Macron Warns Against ‘Survival Of The Fittest’ In World Order

French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday warned against the “survival of the fittest” mindset, calling it “the major risk of our time”. He made the comments in his address at the United Nations General Assembly. 

"That is the major risk of our time... a risk of seeing the survival of the fittest. It is the risk of seeing the selfishness of a few prevail," he said. Macron stated that the growing divisions among people were paralysing the international system. 

"The world's complexity is not a reason to throw in the towel on our principles and our ambitions. To a certain extent, ours is a moment of paradox. We need more than ever before to restore the spirit of cooperation that prevailed 80 years ago," he said. 

Macron’s speech came after United States president Donald Trump’s speech which criticised the UN and boasted of US power and cast himself as a defender of multilateralism and international law. 

He said that the UN's "harshest critics are also those that want to change the rule of the game, because they want to exert domination."

Macron, however, praised Trump for a shift in his stance on Ukraine as he said that Kyiv can take back all of its territory lost to Russia with NATO’s help. Trump made the remarks after he met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Macron defended France’s diplomatic efforts in Ukraine and their recognition of a Palestinian state, which he had announced earlier on Monday. 

"It's because there is this refusal of double standards that France will stand side by side with Ukraine, as we do for peace in the Middle East," he said.