Mark Sammut Sassi

In his contribution ‘Ideology is dead! Long live ideology!’ (May 23), my friend, Alan Xuereb generously mentioned yours truly as a “self-declared conservative” intellectual. I think the vast majority of the Maltese are conservative. The radical liberals are a minority – a vociferous minority, no doubt, but a minority nonetheless. What do we understand by ‘conservative’ and ‘radical liberal’?

On March 31, the online version of The Economist published an eye-opening essay discussing “the spectre of high-end war” that is now “so widespread in French military thinking”. The head of the French army – reported The Economist – envisages “high-intensity, state-on-state conflict” in his strategic vision for the “more dangerous world” of 2030. Analysts are thinking of Russia, Turkey and even a North African country as possible opponents.