Zelensky quickly realized that his hosts in the Oval Office were neither his friends nor allies of Ukraine. But he decided that he could still convince them with arguments and facts. And he was wrong, writes Professor Yevgeny Dainov.
It is not the first time that an analytical text in French has woken me up from that state that Immanuel Kant self-ironically called “mental slumber”.
Even while I was watching the American president and his vice president cut up Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, it was clear to me that they were giving him a pre-planned “bear”. For those who missed military service, I will explain that this is when a group of soldiers cover a soldier with a blanket and start beating him.
But the whole time I was tormented by one question: didn't Zelensky himself make some kind of mistake here? Didn't he help them throw the blanket over him and beat him?
"Little scoundrels"
And here an editorial comment from the authoritative conservative French magazine "Le Point" intervened in my life. In it, Trump and Vance were described as "petits voyous". This, of course, is an authoritative-conservative way for this very publication to say "little scoundrels".
And... it dawned on me. Shaken and pulled out of his mental slumber, I realized what Zelensky's mistake was: The moment he saw that he was visiting some scumbags (the author prefers this definition, ed.), he should have changed the software in his head and changed his behavior accordingly. After all, he too lived in the scumbag 1990s in the city of Krivoy Rog, then known for its street gangs and scumbags, and he has the corresponding experience in communication. Even I, although I stayed away from these circles, gained enormous personal experience between 1995 and 2005 in close encounters of the third kind with scumbags. His experience should not have been less.
Zelensky could not have thought that he was visiting friends. He knew that both Trump and Vance personally hated him. It is logical that he thought that he was visiting allies: after all, personal hatred is one thing, and joint work is quite another. When his allies threw the blanket over him and started beating him, Zelensky was clearly thinking: "Okay. These are not my friends. They are not my allies. But I will treat them as representatives of the Enlightenment - that is, as people whom I can convince with arguments and facts." This and this alone explains his helpless speech, covered by the cries of "petits voyous", with numbers and examples in an attempt to convince them that Putin cannot be trusted.
A mistake. The moment you realize that you are in the company of a scoundrel boss and his thugs - you throw any Enlightenment out the nearest window. Scoundrels are severely primitive, irrational, ritualistic creatures. Everything is personal and "respect" is above everything else. That's why observing the ritual is important for them, not constructing a rational argument.
Handbook "How to behave properly in the White House"
Every next potential visitor to the White House is currently realizing that they may find themselves in the same situation. That's why it's very important for all potential visitors to know what to do the moment the hosts go into “petits voyous” mode.
First, as soon as you enter, you start thanking them. Whether you've thanked the American people and their government up to 33 times before (as Zelensky did) - that doesn't count. What counts is personal gratitude, right now, to the boss personally, in front of his thugs, even if they're looking at you badly through their exquisitely applied eyeliner. Well, you ask, if there's still nothing to thank this guy for personally? There always is. At the very least - he hasn't ordered your wife to be kidnapped yet and you still have the same number of teeth you arrived with.
Second, you never contradict. If you have nuclear weapons - you can afford a delicate correction to what the boss said, as Macron and Starmer did. If you don't have nuclear warheads - you press your socks off. You say something heavily flattering, such as: "I am convinced, given the noble character of our host, that in the future we will have many more meetings at which we will have the opportunity to clarify this issue". That way, you will not look humiliated, and you will not help the "petits voyous" to throw the blanket over you and beat you up in front of the whole world.
Third - you do not interrupt either the boss or any of his thugs. You patiently wait for the chatter to end, and then, once again thanking the attention given to the question, you state your point – dressed in a way that doesn’t make you seem like you’re contradicting the boss.
Fourth – you bring colorful trinkets as a gift for the boss. Well, not everyone can, like Starmer, pull a personal invitation from a real king out of their pocket – but there has to be something like that. It’s part of the ritual.
Of course, in the entourage of every boss of the "petits voyous" there are also a number of their own, only their own rituals. In the past, for example, when meeting with Ceausescu, you had to call him at least once the "great conductor", with Mao – – – – – – – – – the great leader”. In the case of boss Trump, it is mandatory to say at least once that he is – – the only person on the planet who can...” – and come up with something thunderous with which to hint at his godlike essence. &ndquo;To achieve world peace in the entire solar system”, for example.
What kind of people took over the White House
Yes, it is not pleasant. But it is preferable to having "petits voyous" make a bear out of you. That is why even nuclear powers like France and Great Britain have done it these days. After all, in the end you not only stay alive and with the same number of teeth you started the conversation with, but you may also get some paper signed that is important to you.
These days, the White House is not a hangout for either our friends, our allies, or representatives of the Enlightenment, capable of participating in a reasonable conversation and hearing rational arguments. The White House - the home of the American people - has been taken over by "petits voyous". Be considerate!
* This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the DW as a whole.