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Geopolitics

Notre Dame Fire: French Lessons In Risk Management

In all likelihood, the cause of the Notre Dame fire is linked to mundane management issues. It's a symbol for today's French culture.

Firefighters assessing the damage at the Notre Dame cathedral
Firefighters assessing the damage at the Notre Dame cathedral
Jean-Marc Vittori

-OpEd-

PARIS — The fire that engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral is a national catastrophe. It has traumatized millions in France, regardless if they are Catholic or not. Images of the flames that consumed the cathedral's 13th-century framework and the iconic spire that was a 19th-century addition have been circulating around the world.

Just as quickly, the event became fodder for all. Donald Trump could not resist giving stupid firefighting advice. Conspirators were shocked that a fire erupted less than two hours before a major speech by embattled President Emmanuel Macron. Lovers of heritage have rushed to the microphones to denounce the lack of public money. In the next few months, armies of bureaucrats will set themselves in motion to produce hundreds of pages of new rules, regulations, and laws aimed at avoiding that such a national tragedy ever happens again.

It is of course too early to know the original cause of this terrible fire. Some wonder if we'll find out it was ultimately a terrorist attack. Or the fire was triggered by a contractor wanting to avoid a penalty for being late in his renovation work, such as happened in the fire that had destroyed La Fenice opera house in Venice. Otherwise, it could have been some unfortunate combination of circumstances: a spotlight too close to a curtain, which caused the blaze at Windsor Castle in England, or the fireworks test that burned the Great Theatre of Geneva.

Perhaps the investigation will reveal that a contractor had overlooked security measures to fit a budget that was too small. But, by far, the most likely scenario is a mundane construction accident. It is probably not the absence of money or regulations that created the disaster, but rather a lack of vigilance. Not a problem of finances or law, but a problem of management.

We need to know how to manage of culture of risk.

Rehabilitating old houses, let alone historical monuments, are long operations that are delicate, complicated and perilous. A feat which requires blowtorches, electric currents mixed with dry wood and flammable chemicals, which triggers a lot of accidents. In Paris alone, the sites of the Lambert Hotel, the Ritz, and the headquarters of Radio France, the National Library, and the City of Science and Industry have suffered fires in recent years.

Maybe it will take more money and even more regulations. But first, we need to know how to manage the culture of risk, which is too often missing in France. The risks of financial investments are overestimated, and the risks of seemingly inconsequential negligence are underestimated. It is the same kind of risk that causes thousands of deaths on the road, sensational accidents like the Concorde supersonic jet and simple home accidents. Notre Dame is a cultural symbol. So too is its fire.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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