Does anyone on this forum actually care about Syria?

[Okeefenokee]

Or the French, actually. Just off memory, they've been busting more balls.

[ssu]

Time for the EU to step up. Come on EU...

Nah. UK should step up. They're probably best positioned to do it.

To say the EU will "step up" sounds.... really funny. As for a sludge to step up.

Oh, wait uh... something irrelevant happening:

From the official EU website:

The European Commission proposes a European Defence Fund and other actions to support Member States' more efficient spending in joint defence capabilities, strengthen European citizens' security and foster a competitive and innovative industrial base.

In his 2016 State of the Union speech, President Jean-Claude Juncker highlighted the importance of a strong Europe that can defend and protect its citizens at home and abroad - an ambition which cannot be achieved without innovating and pooling resources in the European defence industry. The European Defence Action Plan adopted by the Commission today delivers on that vision.

Yep. That should do it...

[Okeefenokee]

Time for the EU to step up. Come on EU...

Nah. UK should step up. They're probably best positioned to do it.

To say the EU will "step up" sounds.... really funny. As for a sludge to step up.

Oh, wait uh... something irrelevant happening:

From the official EU website:

The European Commission proposes a European Defence Fund and other actions to support Member States' more efficient spending in joint defence capabilities, strengthen European citizens' security and foster a competitive and innovative industrial base.

In his 2016 State of the Union speech, President Jean-Claude Juncker highlighted the importance of a strong Europe that can defend and protect its citizens at home and abroad - an ambition which cannot be achieved without innovating and pooling resources in the European defence industry. The European Defence Action Plan adopted by the Commission today delivers on that vision.

Yep. That should do it...

No, not the EU. The UK...or France. You don't get to hang on to what other nations are doing any more than Belize gets to latch on to what the US does.

[ssu]

No, not the EU. The UK...or France. You don't get to hang on to what other nations are doing any more than Belize gets to latch on to what the US does.

Well the UK has it's focus on trying to get through the Brexit mess.

France is going to elections so they are concentrated on that... (with Marine Le Pen getting more money from Russia for the election btw, but that's just my obsession.)

What would you think they ought to do?

[Okeefenokee]

No, not the EU. The UK...or France. You don't get to hang on to what other nations are doing any more than Belize gets to latch on to what the US does.

Well the UK has it's focus on trying to get through the Brexit mess.

France is going to elections so they are concentrated on that... (with Marine Le Pen getting more money from Russia for the election btw, but that's just my obsession.)

What would you think they ought to do?

Give up on inconsequential European nations and reassert themselves as global powers. The European Federation isn't going to happen. East Europe knows they're snowing the rest. They pretend to be willing participants, all the while sucking up euros until western Europe figures it out. You aren't going to get a federated European global power. You're only going to get drained empty while you fail to see reality.

[BjornP]

When France was last a global power, they owned most of Africa. I'm guessing you're thinking of some other way for them to re-assert their global power?

[BjornP]

Cultural preservation is total hogwash. Even if you could somehow trap culture in amber, and keep it pristine, who would want to? Nothing thrives in a cloister... adapt or die, it is the rule and always has been.

Western civilization has thrived precisely because it is open and adaptable, and as such, can survive what ever the backwards Islamist lunatics can dish out, and it can do so without tossing refugees in camps or whatever other cowardly proposal is on the table.

I agree with the latter statement, but the former collides with the latter. Those backwards Islamist lunatics aren't cultural preservationists. They're universalist reactionaries, because their religion is universalist. Change for the sake of change, rejecting tradition for the sake of rejecting tradition and believing that that is "progress" is irrational. Western civilization isn't a replacement for culture. It's the product of Western European and North American culture.

Wanting your culture to survive is not the same as saying one rejects all influences coming from outside or being reactionary about one's culture, just like accepting some refugees into your country does not mean wanting to exterminate Western civilization. Same logic applies. Just over the span of my 34 years of life, I've seen my culture adopt two foreign holidays. Saint Valentines Day and Halloween. Denmark, but I think Scandinavia as a whole, is very Americanized - culturally not politically - and has been since before I was born, especially from the 1970's and on where more and more American TV shows were introduced into Danish living rooms. It's exploded in scale since then. Our language's changed to incorporate American terms. And it's not because the US somehow actively planned this to happen. It's an eternal historical consequence of great power status on other nations and cultures. All greater powers have affected other countries like that. France being the best example historically (lingua franca). Roman fashions got adopted by non-Romans outside the Roman empire, as well. The US's cultural influence far out-paces all of them, because of the extent of the technological development of mass communication.

When influences like that benefit one's culture, I am ok with it. It can be complimentary. But some influences make us culturally poorer, especially in terms of language. Some words compliment the language. But some older words in our own language become "unfashionable", even if there are no foreign words to replace them with. Being less able to describe the world around you, is neither good for culture or for civilization.

[ssu]

The strength of Western culture is usually severely underestimated as it's tolerant and permissive. Or looks to be tolerant, permissive and hence weak. For somebody coming from a non-permissive society, it can look like to be hedonistic, immoral and decadent. Also as the culture isn't imposed by the government to the people and it's promotion isn't an objective for the central authority.

All of the above make it look like it's dying. Well, it looked like it was coming to an end in the start of the 20th too. The last century it didn't die, on the contrary, made quite spectacular gains around the World.

[TheReal_ND]

Developments Juno Uno
>PMU begin cleaning the Sy-Iraq border of IS
>E Aleppo:SAA capture several sites from IS,seize Maskanah Grain Silos area
>SDF deployed to E Raqqa entrance, 1km to Al-Mashlab from Raqqa
>RU MoD:3 IS convoys fleeing Raqqa destroyed, 80killed
>SAA resumed offensive in S Palmyra after failing in Al-Abassiyah, no gains yet
>Daara:15 rebels dead,20 injured in roadside bomb planted by SAA
>E Ghouta: JaI managed to repell SAA attack from yesterday
>At least 15 RU ships deployed to Mediterranean sea
>Pro-Turkish militants clash with YPG in NW Syria, turkish artilery helped
>2SAA surrender to IS on Palmyra frontier
>Philip:AF mistakenly bombs gov positions in Marawi-11dead,7injured, meanwhile IS captured weapons&equiptment
>Yemen:clashes around Aden airport,2 dead

FSA Chief negotiator in Astana:
SDF terrorists are no different than IS terrorists
Source: http://en.etilaf.org/all-news/news/hari ... tions.html