Chapter 4 " Time to remember " Life in the Zone,China's responsibility, Russian efforts to disrupt and where is NATO?

We are now realizing that the lockdown requires as much energy as going about our tasks under normal circumstances. Maybe more. But we are ok: lots of excercise, we eat a balanced diet, read a lot and watch lots of TV. We are connecting to family and friends daily and the virtual village we create for ourselves helps get over the sense of isolation. It works. The physical social contacts are now down to zero. We are now fully digital. I know it sounds weird, but having a military training helps in a situation like this. One thinks of the measures for survival automatically. But then there are moments when I think of the helplessness, and memories of scary events [genetically coded] prop up, some of which I have not even lived through. Like the helplessness and terror my gradparents must have felt in face of a power they did not understand before they were brutally shipped off to the extermination camps. In comparison, life in the Zone isn't that bad at all.

I don't know what this is, and I am not sure labels from the past do justice to the situation. It's not war, like Macron suggests, but it is also not not war. It was weird to hear from Merkel that this is the "biggest threat to Germany since World War II." given the fact that it was Germany who started that war. Words matter, and politicians need to be careful.

I am really worried about the unpreparedness of the West. Why have we not heard from NATO. Why have NATO heads of state and governments not had a meeting in the last weeks. This is a security threat. The ultimate test of our resilience. Biological warfare if you will. As the situation evolves, we are increasingly being challenged and perhaps threatened by powers, who want to see the West crack under pressure. China and Russia are both up to no good. Let's take China first. Trump is right calling it the Chinese Flu, even if we should not blame Chinese as a people for this. [Andrew Yang is one of the smartest politicians alive] But that this is very much because of the People's Republic of China cannot be denied. Trump has made huge mistakes. But to visibly hate Trump more than you hate Xi Jinping or Putin? How stupid. How ignorant. Yes, China is responsible for this mess, and should not get credit for "helping out" in any way. A few million face masks will not make up for the damage they cause to the word because of its system which literally killed people for warning about the impending disaster. A system that kicks out foreign journalists for telling the truth. What is this nonsense about praising the Chinese for "how well they are handling the crisis" and "how nice they are helping Europe in times of need". Are you kidding me? I don't believe for one second that they have now fully contained the virus. That is simply a lie. This is the most transparent effort to use Chinese soft power to weaken Western cohesion. Because the West leaves space for this, with its lack of support for each other, because of weak or no leadership, because of a population who have been living the "Dolce Vita" [no, not just Italy!], because of a spoiled youth who keeps on partying. Once this is over, we cannot get back to business as usual: no BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Apple, Walmart and the rest does not need to keep us dependent on China.

Russia is a case of its own. Putin sees this as an opportunity. As I write this piece they are contemplating how to exploit the West's weaknesses, our own stupidity, our internal squabbles. They are very good at it. Vladimir Putin's people are surely looking into ways and means to deploy "active measures" [actions of political and social warfare developed by the KGB during the Cold War] to cause a mess. They are really good at disruption, at destruction, at causing chaos. Like spreading rumors, false analysis, sow division between allies, tilt Europe aganst America (for which the ground is unfortunately fertile in both). We don't know what's going on in Russia. [Once again: remember Chernobyl]. Also given the millions of Chinese in Eastern Russia, I doubt the virus is contained accross the country. But as I have mentioned in a previous chapter, in these two countries individual lives don't matter.

In the meanwhile we need to contemplate the future of our democratic societies. There are moments when I think of this as a moment of reckoning that our overindulgence must end. That the party is over. That it's not all about money. That solidarity is not a feelgood thing but about a matter of survival. I ask the question how democracy is compatible with a strong government? How this will impact our Alliance? We think about the future of our grandchildren.

In September 1961, my family moved to Denmark. Just as we arrived, Danish Television started broadcasting a series from the BBC called "Time to Remember". It was a dramatic documentary about World War II. I was 9 years old. My Father was sitting there in front of the television set with us, holding our hand when they showed the worst scenes. But he did not want us to be spared from the memory of war, the destruction, the loss of life.

Sixteen years from now my grandchildren will be watching a BBC documentary about this crisis. It will be called "Time to Remember II.". I hope to be there to hold their hand.

From the Zone, Washington D.C. 03.19.2020