The world is changing its skin. Power dynamics are being redrawn, technologies are redefining strength, and crises follow one another at a relentless pace. Each week brings its share of upheavals. Each day seems to belong to a new era. And while the planet accelerates, Madagascar sometimes gives the impression of running on a treadmill. In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have just signed a historic defense pact. The message is clear: attacking one now means facing all three. In a Middle East where alliances were previously as shifting as desert dunes, a new security architecture is being born.
At the same time, oil markets are holding their breath. Gulf states and Iran are approaching a temporary compromise to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Yesterday's enemies are discovering an age-old truth: diplomacy always costs less than war. Meanwhile, China is no longer just gazing at the stars. It is equipping them. Two hyperspectral satellites equipped with artificial intelligence have just been placed in orbit. It is no longer just space that fascinates Beijing, but the idea of running artificial intelligence directly in the sky. The next technological revolution may not even happen on Earth anymore.
The rest of the world offers no more respite. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola has crossed the symbolic threshold of 4,000 confirmed cases. In Ceuta, dozens of migrants die in another tragedy that reminds us that the strongest borders are often those of despair. Southern France still burns under wildfires. In the United States, Donald Trump continues to challenge birthright citizenship. Even world football has become a diplomatic arena. Europe demands Gianni Infantino's head while Africa publicly renews its confidence in him. Many smell American dollars in the maneuver. Even the round ball ends up speaking geopolitics.
Then comes Madagascar. And there, the contrast becomes almost cruel. For several weeks, discussions have multiplied around the exit from the transition. SADC insists on inclusive political dialogue. Summit meetings follow one another. This time, with a political dialogue format, consultations succeed concertations, which prepare other consultations that should pave the way for new discussions. Dialogue has become an economic activity in its own right. At this rate, a ministry will soon need to be created to coordinate meetings designed to prepare the next meetings. Naturally, no one will dispute that dialogue is essential. A transition cannot lead to credible elections without minimal consensus. But dialogue is not an end in itself. It is a means. Yet when a means becomes a permanent mode of governance, the risk is great of transforming waiting into public policy.
Because while leaders discuss, realities advance without asking permission. Prices continue their climb. Inflation reached 8.6% in June. Facing this surge, the Central Bank raises its key rate to 12.5%. A strong signal sent to markets, but also a perilous exercise: how to brake price increases without further slowing an economy whose breathing remains fragile? Households no longer wait for macroeconomic analyses. They simply observe that the shopping basket costs a little more each week. At ASECNA, the labor dispute illustrates another reality. Agents denounce notably remuneration converted at an exchange rate dating from 2012. Fourteen years later, the cost of living has changed, the currency has changed, the economy has changed. Not the reference used for certain calculations. Administration sometimes possesses an extraordinary quality: it manages to make time stand still.
In the South, sixteen people, including a gendarme, are arrested in a case involving kidnappings and murders of albino children. Behind the figures lies an unbearable tragedy that reminds us that certain criminal practices survive despite discourse on modernizing the state.