Strategic Policymaking In Democracies
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has provided a case study in how democracies react to existential challenges
What follows is a fictionalized summary of what in reality comprises many tens of thousands of hours of lengthy discussions focusing on minutiae, on the results of the most recent public opinion polls, and — most importantly of all — on what the “news” media is presently telling people to believe and therefore must be reacted to in some way.
In this fictionalized account, each actor represents their country and so instead of individual names like Jean-Pierre Flechette or Jeremiah Blunden we’ll stick to France, USA, etc. And when we come to looking more closely at the USA, we’ll have two characters: MAGA (a mindless bloated oaf with the emotional range of a mentally disturbed toddler) and Dozer (an intellectually enfeebled ditherer who always hopes things will somehow work out alright in the end).
Let us now embark upon our case study.
Act I, scene ii
(We are in a wood-paneled conference room in a chateau somewhere in north-eastern France. Esculent snacks are everywhere, and the participants will shuffle from wonderful breakfasts to elaborate lunches to sumptuous dinners so as to sustain themselves during…
