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U2 Frontman Shares a Grave Warning at Cannes

“Nationalism is not what we need,” the singer said as he discussed the premiere of his Apple TV+ documentary.

U2 frontman Bono warned that “world war” has “never been closer” in an interview published Friday by the Associated Press. The rocker made the comments while speaking from the Cannes Film Festival to promote his new Apple TV+ documentary, Bono: Stories of Surrender. “This is me speaking about surrender, ‘Stories of Surrender,’ at a time when the world has never been closer to a world war in my lifetime,” Bono said. The documentary captures Bono’s one-man stage show as he delves into his life, family, and topics dear to his heart, such as globalization—a topic he further remarked on to the AP. “[Globalization] and increased aid levels brought a billion people out of extreme poverty and halved childhood mortality—remarkable jumps for quality of life for human beings,” he said. Rebuking efforts by President Donald Trump and other right-wing leaders to roll back such progress, Bono warned, “Nationalism is not what we need.” He added, “We grew up in a very charged atmosphere in Ireland. It makes you suspicious of nationalism and those animal spirits that can be drummed up.”