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Second excerpt from “L’heure des prédateurs” by Giuliano Da Empoli.

Cover of the book: "L'heure des prédateurs" from Giuliano Da Empoli — Cover of the book: “L’heure des prédateurs” from Giuliano Da Empoli

In his book “L’heure des prédateurs (The Hour of the Predator ),” Giuliano Da Empoli writes, “Three months before the invasion of Ukraine, Surkov, who had been dismissed by Putin some time before, published an article in which everything was already said. Every society, he wrote, is subject to the physical law of entropy. No matter how stable it may be, in the absence of external intervention, it eventually produces chaos within. Up to a certain point, it is possible to manage this, but the only way to solve the problem definitively is to export it. According to Surkov, the great empires of history regenerate themselves by shifting the chaos they produce beyond their borders. This was the case with the Romans in ancient times, and, according to the author, with the Americans in the 20th century. It is also the case with Russia, “for which constant expansion is not just an idea, but the very raison d’être of our history.”

And when exporting turmoil fails to reestablish stability to the country, the country’s leader is sent into retirement, one way or another. The writer adds: “When chaos exceeds a certain stage, the only way to restore order is to identify a scapegoat. And the leader, whoever he may be, is always a scapegoat waiting in the wings. Tolstoy compares him to ‘a ram fattened for the slaughterhouse”.” (Deepl translation)

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Excerpts from the book “Apprivoiser son ombre” (Taming Your Shadow) by Jean Monbourquette.

Book "Apprivoiser son ombre" by Jean Monbourquette — Book “Apprivoiser son ombre” by Jean Monbourquette

“The more a nation isolates itself, the blinder it becomes to its own faults and shortcomings, and the more it will tend to project its fears, repugnance, and atavisms onto neighbouring nations. Only through regular contact with other peoples can a nation recognize its own shortcomings and flaws. Until people learn to know and appreciate foreign customs, they will harbour prejudices created by their own national shadow. Jokes about neighbouring peoples and racist nicknames are clear signs of projections of the national shadow.

In times of war, the collective shadow cast on “the enemy” is maintained and exacerbated by the media. Everything that is considered detestable and reprehensible at home is relentlessly sought out in the adversary. During the Second World War, the German people had every imaginable flaw. During the Cold War that followed, it was the Russians’ turn to be judged harshly. Black people have long been the target of projection by white people. Jews have similarly been the preferred victims of the collective shadow of several other peoples. Minorities, foreigners, and great minds always disturb others with their differences and originality. They are exposed to becoming scapegoats, bearers of all the malicious tendencies of the national shadow.

Are nations therefore condemned, as such, to constantly create enemies or scapegoats and to burden them with their collective shadow? Is it permissible to dream that one day all nations will look at each other in all truthfulness and that each will tame its shadow instead of projecting it onto another nation in an attempt to destroy it?

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