Critical State: Climbing Nietzsche Mountain

Per a report from Tania Roettger in The Dial, “people gather in a luxury hotel perched above Sils Maria, a small village in the Swiss Alps, to discuss the life and work of Friedrich Nietzsche” — and do so every year.

The gathering is hosted in a luxury hotel, but the other big draw is apparently “the promise of new insight into one of the most influential, and controversial, modern philosophers.”

Roettger offers a brief biography of the philosopher and unpacks some of the seeming contradictions in his writing — but also also delves into the darker parts of Nietzsche and his legacy, which other conference goers evidently did not wish to: “At the conference, though, there was no mention of how Nietzsche’s ideas were coopted by the Nazis, or why his philosophy continues to find traction among today’s alt-right. This unpalatable aspect of his legacy was, it seemed, considered out of place in the tasteful, hushed atmosphere of the Waldhaus Hotel. For many people Nietzsche is simply whoever they want him to be.”

If You Read One More Thing: The Spy Who Spied on Me

In VSquare, Szabolcs Panyi and András Pethő write about Hungarian intelligence infighting.

• As Panyi and Pethő explain in a piece originally published in Hungarian outlet Direkt36, “EU anti-fraud investigators probing the company of Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law were surveilled by Hungary’s foreign intelligence agency, which even created an entire department to spy on EU institutions. However, sensitive political information gathered by Hungarian intelligence sparked political and intelligence infighting…”

• They focus in particular on events in the summer of 2018, when power struggles and restructuring revealed “the serious distrust that had developed between certain powerful government figures during those years.” At issue may have been what information intelligence agents had collected on the prime minister’s family members and their business interests. The search of old intelligence work by new supervisors was “nearly unprecedented in Hungary’s post-1989 intelligence history and kept secret until now (along with the political maneuvers behind it and the questionable legality of the surveillance), was revealed by Direkt36 based on interviews with Hungarian national security sources and government politicians familiar with the events.”

Money and Politics

In Africa Is a Country, Ernest Harsch writes of Ghana’s recent elections, which saw a handoff of power — but also, Harsch argues, reveals a system where wealth can buy political power.

• Harsch writes that, “as in earlier election cycles, corruption’s impact was nevertheless a troubling concern. For former auditor-general Daniel Yaw Domelevo, it was not an election year, but an ‘auctioning year’ in which nominees bid for offices. And for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, in a communique from its general assembly, the country’s democracy is threatened by ‘moneycracy,’ a term that has gained currency in recent years. In such a system, said the church, candidates with ‘dubious intentions’ run not to advance national interests, but their personal gain.”

• Harsch notes that Ghana’s elections are not violent, and that the country is hailed by international observers for its democracy. And “overt cash payments are illegal.” But, he adds, “The role of money has been most visible in the primaries that each party uses to select its candidates.”

Deep Dive: Deep Dive: Hegemony à la Française

In a new article at Parliamentary Affairs, Aurelien Mondon seeks to take a different tack while examining the case of the French far right. To do this, instead of looking squarely at the far-right, the article probes "the past 50 years through a lens that focuses on power and those in a particularly privileged position to shape the agenda and public discourse.”

This, Mondon argues, better accounts for the “central role of mainstream elites.”

Mondon calls the normal narrative “hegemonic defeatism,” and says it’s a story that goes like this: the rise of the far-right is inevitable, and so the democratic elites must themselves turn right. But this, Mondon argues, is a political reading. Another narrative is available by taking a longer view.

For example, discussions about "the rise of the FN/RN or the far right in general" often frame it "not only as something 'irresistible' … but as something that finds its source in the actions of the far right itself."

In fact, Mondon goes on, “this argument does not even match basic electoral data, or at least their critical analysis.”

Take, for instance, the fact that turnout doesn't factor in to discussions of elections: “Le Monde for example led with: ‘2024 European elections: above 30%, the RN wins a historic success ’... When turnout is accounted for, the RN ‘only’ received 16.5% of the vote, which is very concerning but far from a landslide.” But the idea that it’s a landslide can, in turn, encourage other voters to cast protest or more radical votes.

Mondon takes the argument a step further: “[R]ather than the irresistible rise of the FN/RN, what we have witnessed is the conscious enabling of far-right politics and discourse by the mainstream.”

What’s more, “Despite the trend being live for decades, no President has proven as zealous as Macron in his attempt to defeat the far right by absorbing its discourse, while claiming to be a xxxxxx against it.”

More alarming still, the far-right has benefitted from this “pandering” to its discourse and its politics. Mondon goes further into Islamophobia as an example of this phenomenon.

Mondon essentially concludes that the "mainstreaming of far- and extreme-right politics poses a real threat to democracy and in particular to the communities at the sharp end of such politics. Yet while most mainstream actors agree with this statement publicly, this article claims that their actions not only point towards complacency when it comes to addressing this trend, but at times an active enabling.”

Thus, elite narratives about their own role in the process of the far right's rise should be challenged.

Show Us the Receipts

Amélie David reported on midwives and maternal mortality in Lebanon. Midwives are serving a real need: “In response to the war, 57 satellite units in primary health centers and five mobile units have been launched in addition to the home visit program. Since October, UNICEF, which is a partner in the program, along with the Lebanese Ministry of Health, claims that over 2,500 displaced women have had access to care under the program.” However, an economic crisis has meant “an almost total devaluation of the local currency, so midwives now only receive a few hundred dollars a month at best.”

Shirin Jaafari wrote on Syrians reacting to the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. “Assad has fled the country and, for the first time in two decades, Syrians say they are experiencing a taste of freedom. Assad brutally repressed a popular uprising, which started in 2011. His forces killed, tortured and imprisoned those who spoke out against the government. During the 13-year war, Assad used chemical weapons on his own people and besieged and starved people living in areas under opposition control. Now, after enduring more than a decade of harrowing loss, displacement and atrocities, Syrians are trying to make sense of what comes next,” wrote Jaafari.

Daniel Ofman explored a debate around Russia’s war in Ukraine: namely, whether the Russian flag is a symbol of war. Hundreds of thousands have left Russia since the war began, and, outside their country’s borders, some are trying to organize. “But these attempts have often led to harsh disagreements. The most recent debate is about whether the Russian flag has become a symbol of war.” Some think the flag isn’t appropriate, or at least isn’t appropriate right now. Others believe they need to fly the flag to get Russians’ support for their cause. And while some see the debate over the flag as a distraction, others think getting symbols right while attempting to mobilize people matters deeply.

Well-Played

Good for men.

Years of lead paint.

Solving the trolley problem.

Buckle up.

Three’s a crowd.

Problematic.

Critical State is written by Emily Tamkin with Inkstick Media.

The World is a weekday public radio show and podcast on global issues, news, and insights from PRX and GBH.

With an online magazine and podcast featuring a diversity of expert voices, Inkstick Media is “foreign policy for the rest of us.”

Critical State is made possible in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.