The sun also rises

It was an early morning at Warsaw Chopin Airport, I think we were third in line for departure on runway 33/29, the two engines of our Brazilian built Embraer ERJ-175LR were still almost idling as we waited for a LOT Boeing 787 to depart for New York. I closed my eyes and allowed all the images from Chernobyl, Kyiv and Vienna flood through my mind, leaving me with a warm afterglow. This is the world that is at stake, one of bridges rather than borders.

Today I read a surprisingly interesting interview with Alexander Dugin (unfortunately only available in Swedish) in Dagens Nyheter. It was surprising because towards the end the interviewer asks what will happen if Russia and America are no longer enemies in the Trump era and Russia no longer has someone to blame for its misfortunes. Dugin readily admits that this will force Russia to take responsibility and actually do something about its dismal economy and a “government that is thoroughly corrupt and in the hands of villains” as he puts it (!). These are indeed times when all that was solid is melting into air.

As for Trump, probably Paul Krugman is right: “Either he or the republic, in any meaningful sense, will be gone quite soon. I have a hard time seeing one year, let alone four”.