The French Conversion

Has Machiavelli been translated into Arabic?" From this question, Servan- Schreiber goes on to cite the ways in which the oil embargo exposed Western European vulnerability and “isolated the only power which, in this hellish game, is to be feared, namely, America.” Combined with this, the October war in the Middle East brought new supremacy to Soviet arms and “upset the ratio of forces.” The effect is that “all the industrial countries have been grabbed by their jugular vein.” Servan-Schreiber cites the French analyst, Jean Fourastié, who claims: “A new phase of economic history, of the cultural history, of ideologies and political strategies declared itself in October, 1973. It started with a blockade … there remains only force.” The consequence may be the rule of brute force everywhere in domestic and international life. The Planet of the Apes. Servan-Schreiber contrasts Fourastié's view with that of Samuel Pisar, an American, who sees a collective progression of the planet through conflict. The course of reason may be a supreme challenge, but it is not superhuman. Servan-Schreiber admits to being torn between the two scenarios offered by Fourastié and Pisar.