Dividing up the world after a war is one of humankind’s most cherished activities.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, not only extracted such severe reparations from Germany following World War I, it was a major factor in making World War II inevitable.
The Yalta Conference in February 1945, followed by the Potsdam Conference that summer, saw Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman and Winston Churchill draw new boundaries for scores of nations, create an Iron Curtain across Europe, and divide the world into three parts: capitalist democracies, communist dictatorships and the rest.
With the war between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon on the verge of ending, we can expect to see similar pie-cutting across the Middle East, and the same with Russia and Ukraine.
What these exercises all share is that they happen after the conflict. And the longer and more horrific the fighting, the more complex and fraught the mapmaker’s task becomes.
We are also less than 14 days into Donald Trump’s 1,460-day term of office. But already, he has revealed how different he is from every leader who has gone before. Because rather than waiting to win in order to divvy up the global pie, he is doing that before a shot is fired.
I came to this idea via Michael Ignatieff, who wasn’t a successful politician but remains one of the world’s most original thinkers. Writing in The Financial Times last month on the molecular bonds that link Canada and America, he notes that Trump may be creating a world “where power over the global economy has devolved to three zones of influence: the Chinese in east Asia, the Russians in Eurasia, and the Americans, with an exclusive sphere of influence in the western hemisphere, stretching from Greenland in the Arctic to Chile at the southern tip of Latin America.”
It’s no coincidence that the leaders of these three spheres are all “strongmen.” And when we view Trump as the classic “trickster” and realize that he has spoken with Putin at least seven times between his first presidency and this one, Ignatieff’s unlikely theory suddenly makes sense.
He concludes:
“This might just be Trump’s quid pro quo for accepting Russian and Chinese spheres of influence and letting India tack between the two. Accepting their spheres of influence, provided they recognize his, would allow him to cut the Gordian knot that has tied America’s strategic interests to Europe and Asia.”
I remember over the years, different Americans have said to me: “You know, we could just invade Canada and take all your water.” I’ve dutifully replied: “But if you did, that would send a signal to the world that America has just invaded its closest ally. And the world wouldn’t stand for it, because if you can’t get along with Canadians, who can you get along with?”
This assumes, of course, that America today feels a need to get along with anyone. The evidence in the first two weeks of the Trump presidency is that it feels no such need.
Then again, with two thirds of the world sidelined and irrelevant to the White House, Canadians should remind ourselves of the sentiment that went viral during the pandemic: “Canadians are the nice couple living above the meth lab.”
Today we’re the nice couple living above the meth lab that’s on fire.
Meanwhile…
1. The fire this time. Some thoughts on America: What Stephen Miller, Trump’s policy enforcer and deputy chief of staff, wrote when he was 16 on political correctness out of control. Plus Frank Zappa, predicting the rise of fascism in America in 1986. Plus, the invasion of Greenland has begun. And 30 countries Americans can buy a golden visa from in order to escape…America (Canada ranks #3).
2. A bunch of animals. First, don’t poke the bear. Next, they’re called retrievers for a reason. And a new apex predator.
3. Don’t we have more fresh water than anyone else on earth? So why has one Ontario town had a boil-water advisory for the past 30 years? Neskantaga is located along the banks of Attawapiskat Lake and the Otoskwin River, 436 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. As this Canadian Geographic piece points out (or rather, screams out), it is “home to Canada’s longest boil water advisory, in place since 1995. The predicament stems from aging infrastructure, contamination problems and a lack of adequate resources for maintenance and upgrades to the water treatment facility.” Come on, Canada. If we can’t even fix this, what can we do?
4. Women: Nasty, Practical, and Nice. Elizabeth Warren won’t give Robert Kennedy a free pass at his Senate confirmation hearing. Here’s her 34-page letter why not. Next, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, enraged Trump when she asked him to show mercy to illegal immigrants. Finally, Asli Aydintaşbaşon what we can do not only to survive the next four years, but come out stronger.
5. The fires next time. Could your home withstand a wildfire? Also, Wade Davis beyond climate fear and trepidation. And was 2024 really the hottest year on record? Finally, an Irish view of the Los Angeles fires.
6. Why taxi drivers are protected from Alzheimers. Their spatial muscle memory gets exercised every day. Does piano playing make you a better surgeon? In the case of Maral Ouzounian, yes. Who would hire a German composer to create a new version of their national anthem? Saudi Arabia. And how did “Rhapsody in Blue become immortal?Plus, China’s “Sputnik moment” landed on Monday when it unveiled DeepSeek, the AI platform that does everything Chat GPT does at a tiny fraction of the cost. No wonder markets plunged globally on Monday.
7. The golden age of Hollywood in one scene. 17 shots in 7 and a half minutes of The Philadelphia Story, with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.
To see if the screen’s still golden, check out the trailers from this year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees.
8. The Encyclopedia of Known Unknowns. It’s called Wikenigma and it chronicles existing problems no one has ever solved. Ever. And in an age when so much is in decline, you can now teach yourself to teach yourself.
9. The last polite place. Japanese gas stations. The last ordered place? Writing by the rules. And what about classical music, where the rules are changing as fast as the audiences?
10. What I’m liking. Kim’s Convenience is Toronto, the city where more people were born outside Canada than in.
It debuted as a play at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2011, then was remounted a year later by Soulpepper Theatre and became the most commercially successful production in the company’s history. It toured Canada from 2013 to 2016 and even played off-Broadway, then aired on CBC from 2016 to 2021.
On Thursday, it re-re-opened at Soulpepper and runs to March 2. Tickets here.