“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

December 27 2023 — In most European countries, the education system is falling apart. This is not limited to STEM area. Classical languages (Greek and Latin) have long become optional. Adults have a very poor knowledge of their primary language. Geography and history are deemed unimportant. Absurdity does not go to infinity. I would like to suggest that this failure is responsible for the chaos of European Geopolitics. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Let us take a good look at the diagram depicting the Indo-European family of languages. Did you know that Greek is very close to Indo-Iranian, a language from which both Iranian and Sanskrit eventually emerged? Perhaps, you may want to re-think the battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his massive Persian army?

In the last few months, the Ukraine-Russia conflict has given rise to deep tensions among the members of the European Union and NATO. Finland suddenly decided to join NATO (Effective: 4 April 2023). Estonia demands a new world order. Hungary is holding hostage the European summit. And Turkey, a non-European country where people speak a non-European language, has the final word on NATO matters

In order to get your attention, I would like to ask you a couple of questions. First, let us consider a non European language. How many Japanese words do you know? The fact is that, even if you never took a lesson of Japanese in your life, you probably know a dozen of Japanese words!

Here is a quick list I just put together this morning: Aikido, Amaterasu, Amazake, Anime, Bento, Bokeh, Bonsai, Bonze, Cosplay, Dojo, Edamame, Emoji, Futon, Geisha, Genki, Haiku, Hanko, Hara-kiri, Hikikomori, Ikigai, Ikebana, Itadakimasu, Judo, Jujutsu, Kabuki, Kakemono, Kamikaze, Karate, Katana, Katsu, Kawaii, Kendo, Kimono, Kirigami, Koi, Kokoro, Koto, Manga, Meishi, Miso, Momme, Ninja, Noh, Noren, Obi, Omotenashi, Onsen, Origami, Otaku, Oyakodon, Ronin, Sake, Samurai, Sashimi, Sayonara, Sensei, Seppuku, Shiatsu, Shiitake, Shogun, Skosh, Soba, Soy, Sudoku, Sumo, Sushi, Tatami, Tempura, Tofu, Tsunami, Tycoon, Ukiyo-e, Wabi-sabi, Wasabi, Yen, Zen.

And now come my next questions. How many words from the Finnish language do you know? My guess is that you probably know just one word: sauna.

How many words from the Hungarian language do you know? Again, my guess would be that you know three of them: Goulash, Paprika, and… Sabotage.

Why so few? The answer is simple. Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian languages do not belong to the Indo-European family. They belong to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family.

Perhaps this will help you to understand why the European Summit has become a modern Babel Tower.

Language differences contribute to misunderstandings, cultural disparities, and challenges in fostering a cohesive geopolitical strategy. This is particularly true for languages that belong to different families. A human being cannot think in term of words he does not know.

PS — In July 2002, President Bush, Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, and France’s President Jacques Chirac were discussing economics and, in particular, the decline of the French economy. “The problem with the French,” Bush afterwards confided in Blair, “is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.”

REFERENCES

Indo-European languages — Britannica

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If words could talk. [The history and geopolitics of words]

“Our current actions, and especially the results were are achieving, will create the future world order.”

Statement on foreign policy by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna
(14 Sept. 2023)