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The Council of the European Union announced on Monday the launch of a three-year support mission for Lebanon, known as the EU Support Mission in Lebanon (EUSM Lebanon). The mission, established under the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), aims to “contribute to peace and security in Lebanon, support the strengthening of state institutions and promote lasting stability in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” according to a statement issued by the EU Delegation to Lebanon. It will focus primarily on the Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces (ISF), with two “complementary military and civilian pillars, operating under a unified political mandate.”

When conditions in a country descend beyond the bounds of madness, one begins to wonder: what can be done to strengthen our ability to endure such chaos and successive collapses? Chinese wisdom often offers a different approach, one that can help us find balance. The Chinese thinker Zhuangzi was one of the philosophers of Taoism. He is considered the second most important Chinese figure in this tradition, after Laozi, its founder. My first encounter with Laozi came through a sentence in Edward Hall’s book The Hidden Dimension. I dwelt on it for a long time: “Emptiness gives things their meaning”! Laozi believed that “being gives things their qualities, but nonbeing (emptiness) is what makes them useful.”

The Lebanese do not need another explosion to remind them of the dangers of transporting explosives between different parts of their country. The seizure of a shipment at the Dahr el-Baidar checkpoint is enough to bring back images of burned-out cars, destroyed building fronts, victims, and questions that have remained unanswered. In a country that has witnessed assassinations and assassination attempts with political dimensions, the transport of hundreds of kilograms of explosive materials cannot be treated as an ordinary offense. It poses a direct threat to national security and tests the state’s ability to protect people before a crime is committed, rather than merely documenting its consequences afterward.

Poetic prose or prosaic poetry? That is the question that first comes to mind when reading Cette vieille chanson qui brûle ( This Old Song That Burns ). Writing is at the heart of Alexandre Lenot’s second novel, which captivates readers less through its dramatic plot than through its rich, flowing sentences. It explores strained family ties, twinhood, mixed identity, the search for love and recognition, ecology, and activism. The novel is dense, yet flows effortlessly, drawing readers into a spiral of cruel events that unfold in prose of exhilarating power. This is the work chosen for the 25th edition of the Francophonie’s Five Continents Prize. The choice carries particular significance as the award celebrates a quarter-century of recognizing French-language literature from around the world.

While the U.S.-Iran front remains more or less calm, two troubling signs marked the past week: the escalation on the Yemeni front and the seizure in Lebanon of a truck carrying explosives being transported by Hezbollah militiamen, which has raised fears of further suspected assassinations ordered by their Iranian patron. With Israel’s legislative elections approaching on October 27, and as the war in the Middle East weighs increasingly heavily on the U.S. midterm elections due to take place in early November, violence persists in the region—openly or covertly—on several fronts. Apart from occasional attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the most worrying signs emerged elsewhere this week: in Saudi Arabia, where Houthi attacks are becoming increasingly deadly, and in Lebanon, where the arrest of pro-Iranian Hezbollah militiamen in possession of half a ton of explosives has revived fears of political assassinations.

VI. The War Against Iran (February-June 2026): the “Limited Intervention” A Late and Symbolic Entry On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Very quickly, Tehran largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, reducing Gulf exports to a trickle. Many expected the Houthis to open a second front at Bab el-Mandeb. They did not. Their involvement was cautious, gradual and late: it was not until March 28, one month after the war began, that they fired their first missiles toward Israel, as though they had waited for the moment when their entry would have the greatest impact. Their operations were limited to missile and drone launches toward Israel. Their military effect was modest, given the distance and the effectiveness of Israeli air defenses. Above all, they avoided high-impact fronts: no campaign against shipping in the Red Sea, no strikes against the Gulf monarchies or regional energy infrastructure. The media dimension compensated for this: each launch sustained the image of a “resistance” force loyal to the Axis. These launches were suspended with the Islamabad Memorandum, concluded in June between Washington and Tehran.