Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

February 20, 2025

Refaat Ibrahim talks to one horrific issue in the never-ending repetition of the human experiment. It seems humankind is hardwired to a cycle of behavioural traits that finish in man’s inhumanity to man. As we lurch drunkenly into yet another catastrophic phase of what looks to be our destiny, some of the players have changed roles; sadly, the roles remain constant and the methods tragically familiar.

In the 1930s, Hitler and Stalin divided Poland as a prelude to signing a non-aggression pact. With its eastern front buffered, the Third Reich set out to make Germany great again under Lebensraum. These events occurred against the backdrop of flourishing right-wing authoritarianism around the globe that led to six years of global conflict, bringing misery and hardship to tens of millions.

Trumpian America has already suggested the ethnic cleansing of one homeland and has discussed the division of another with its authoritarian aggressor. Meanwhile communist China lays claim to Taiwan and an ever-extending South China Sea, and skirmishes with India over border territories. All that’s missing is a string of non-aggression pacts.

However, this time around there’s an old player returned to the saga: climate change. Watch this space.