Monsieur Macron's Lament

With apologies to both Mr. Simon and Mr. Garfunkel

Albert Goodwin The Sentinel and the Banyan Trees

People who have a karaoke machine close at hand may wish to sing this exercise in doggerel to the tune of “The Sounds of Silence.”

Notes:

IAD, which stands for ‘integrated air defense’, refers to a collection of missiles, guns, and radars that work together to destroy, or, at the very least, discourage, enemy aircraft.

Originally employed to stop the spread of cholera, a cordon sanitaire is a long line of soldiers who have been charged with preventing people from moving from one place to another.

An Alouette is a helicopter employed by French naval forces.

RF (Radio France) Internationale is the Francophone analog of the BBC World Service.

Named for its most prominent members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Indonesia), BRICSI is a loose alliance of non-Western countries.

The CFA is a monetary regime that ties that economies of several countries in West Africa to that of France.

Pré carré, which can be translated as ‘back yard’, refers to African countries that used to be part of the formal French Empire.

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For Further Reading:

Readers who like this sort of thing may enjoy the parodies of songs, poems, and speeches published by The Tactical Notebook.

For More About A Wealth of Nations:

A Wealth of Nations