Africa: Why Bother About World War I

5 December 2018

Stockholm/Rome — Why do we still need to be concerned about a war that ended a hundred years ago? Sure, it caused the death of at least 37 million people, but why bother about that now? Anyhow France´s president Emmanuel Macron believed it was worthwhile to commemorate the end of World War I and seventy world leaders were invited to attend the centennial ceremony by Paris´s Arc de Triomphe.

In pouring rain Macron delivered a speech in which he reminded the gathered leaders that "old demons" were once again emerging all over the world, threatening peace and global co-operation. A common theme for these forces is Nationalism. We all know what that is all about - an intense form of loyalty to one's country, or to what is often labelled as "our people", exaggerating the value and importance of our own nation, placing its interests above those of other countries.

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