Final Word from Monday, July 15, 2024

Shortly before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, The Economist wrote that Trump's specter haunted the Nato summit in Washington. Member nations agreed to continue to support Ukraine on its "irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership," but The Economist wrote that we all know the road to membership is "all too reversible" if Trump returns to the White House. Czech Pres. Petr Pavel supported the summit declaration and said that it gives Ukrainians assurance. Yet Pavel also told Sky News in May that we need to stop the war and to start negotiations about the future arrangement. It's naive, he said, to think that Ukraine can get back the occupied territory in the foreseeable future. Without it, though, the "irreversible path" would no doubt hit a dead end. Pavel's ability to contradict himself so substantially reduces his own authority, but it's also perhaps a good basis for "finding a way" to Trump if Trump does indeed return to the White House. [ Czech Republic ghost D.C. ]