Paul Buitink talks to Arnaud Bertrand, a French entrepreneur who founded Housetrip and sold it to Tripadvisor. He then lived in China for 7 years and just moved to Malaysia with his family. Furthermore he is an influential, and one might say controversial, commentator on geopolitics and economics. He explains what’s going on in France and why president Macron dissolved the parliament and only gave 3 weeks for another elections, which will be held on 30 June. It was a ploy from Macron to emerge as the reasonable alternative during the elections. But he is annihilated in the polls. France has fundamental problems as it’s not competitive, living standards are too low and it has not enough sovereignty. Arnaud comes up with some policy proposals. He worries about potential conflicts in Europe and riots in France. Arnaud then describes the rise of China and its role in the world. He believes China strives for peace and is not interested in a war with the US or invading Taiwan. He also comments on the Tiktok ban and ends with some positive advice. Article in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/no-substitute-victory-pottinger-gallagher Follow Arnaud Bertrand on X at: https://x.com/RnaudBertrand Follow Paul Buitink on X at: https://x.com/notifications Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 4:45 French elections 11:35 Fundamental problems of France 14:45 Migration 17:59 EU’s excessive deficit procedure against France 22:15 The rise of China 27:35 China’s role in the world (UN, Gaza, Ukraine) 33:36 Taiwan 38:27 A new cold war? 43:25 Tiktok 47:50 Positive advice from Arnaud
