Word of the Day: Apothegm
No, it does not mean 'clearing your throat.
Noun
apothegm (plural apothegms)
A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim. [from mid-16th c.]
“It is worse than a crime; it is a blunder.” Thus was the response of a prominent French politician to the news that Napoleon had executed an enemy duke in 1804.
An adage of 19th-century power politics, it has regained painful relevance today. Neither the United States nor Israel can proffer a coherent plan for their war on Iran. Something like the Syrian scenario is the best planners can come up with: disintegration of the polity from the skies, without the presence of foreign troops, domestic propaganda campaigns or long-term security planning. Old-style regime change is out. Regime wrecking, at great global cost, is all that is on offer.
The apothegm easily applies to Europe’s leaders, too. Despite being blindsided by the Israeli-American operation in Iran, they have largely declared support for it — if somewhat cagily — and lent military assistance in the form of bases, warships and planes. More structurally, Europeans have foundered in letting themselves be so dependent on the whims of an America commanded by a rogue president. Almost by default, they have colluded in the conditions of their own endangerment.
| Anton Jäger, Europe Is in Great Danger. It Has Itself to Blame.