France has probably declined to the point where it is just another Levantine or

France has probably declined to the point where it is just another Levantine or Mediterranean polity – doubtlessly assuming like Lebanon, it’s superiority in circumventing tribalism. But France will fall. The UK will fall behind France if not corrected. It is up to the Russians and the Americans I think to prevent the fall of Christendom, leaving only the authoritarian models of the Chinese and Russians to survive.

Every era thinks they’re ‘special’ when they fall under the spell of commerce – that is, until their economic premium is exhausted and people revert to group favoritism in order to compete politically for privilege where in the past they competed economically for status.