The West, whether it realizes it or not, is engaged in a multi-front war. Iran and its proxies are setting the Middle East aflame, Russia advances in Ukraine, Communist China is waging gray-zone warfare against Free China, the Philippines, and Japan, with the risk of escalating into open conflict. Beyond these theaters, numerous fronts are being stoked by revisionist states. All aim to upend the global order. 

The latest case is the ongoing unrest in the French Pacific island territory of New Caledonia, to which President Macron’s recent visit had all the hallmarks of a diplomatic Hail Mary pass. Paris and Washington, it seems, are in a nail-biter for global shame and retreat. In New Caledonia, anti-French separatists backed, curiously, by Azerbaijan, have been vying for self-rule. In the unrest, Baku has spotted an opportunity to strike against France.