Politics and crises in 2024: When everything is at stake

Is the West sleepwalking through political disasters, as is often claimed? No, we are standing on the brink of the abyss with our eyes wide open.

Let us imagine the no longer impossible: The botched duel between Joe Biden and Donald Trump opens the way to a second term for Trump, provided Biden does not resign and make way for a more suitable candidate. And the massive victory of the far-right led by Marine Le Pen in the first round of the French parliamentary election heralds a return to nationalist, anti-European politics in France. We are looking into an abyss in which the European Union and NATO could be paralyzed. And this would have very immediate, short-term consequences for Russia’s war in Ukraine, the outcome of which could have world-historical significance for decades to come.