Anil Madan
Africa-Press – Lesotho. As we roll into the new year, the world remains in turmoil. There are ongoing wars, conflicts, trouble spots. The list is long, so without being exhaustive, here are some of the bigger ones, and in no particular order: the ongoing war in Ukraine; Iran’s ongoing development of nuclear weapons capability and proxy wars in the Middle East while frustrated and enraged Iranian women yearn for freedom; North Korea’s ongoing threats to unleash nuclear weapons on South Korea, Japan and the US; the ongoing clamor for urgent responses to deal with climate change, while the world continues to burn fossil fuels with abandon; China’s ongoing expansion of its footprint in the South China Sea, its ongoing threats to get on with reunifying Taiwan and the Mainland.
“For years, China has outmaneuvered the US, in the South China Sea part of the Pacific theater and it is not too much to say that China controls the area with impunity.
Again, no surprises here. For decades, the US has watched China accumulate billions of dollars in trade surpluses and use that revenue to build a formidable presence in what it considers its backwaters.
For centuries the cry was “Brittania rules the waves!” and certainly, after Brittania faltered, America rode its own wave for a long time. Why should we expect less from China?” And in 2023, the list was augmented as new troubles arose.
The most obvious one is the Israel-Hamas war and the ongoing devastation that Israel is wreaking on Gaza. 2023 also saw changes in Britain’s Premiership, and with a general election in 2024, the prospects for Mr Sunak to hold on to his office appear dim.
Russia too has a presidential election looming. There is little doubt that Putin will maneuver his way to an easy victory, and as if to put an exclamation point on the idea that he will brook no dissent, Putin has sent Alexei Navalny off to a harsh prison in Siberia.
Here at home in America, we have seen a near total breakdown of the system of government as the Republican majority with potential control of the House of Representatives more closely represents warring tribal factions than a party attempting rational and reasonable governance of the nation’s affairs.
And as the 2024 US presidential election heads into its extended campaigning mode, Donald Trump remains far and away, the leading choice among Republicans.
Despite his role in the insurrection of January 6, 2021, when at his urging, a mob stormed the US Capitol as Congress was in joint session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, and despite pending criminal charges without precedent in American history, Republicans have not made him a pariah as they well should have.
India too has a major election coming in 2024 but Prime Minister Modi’s BJP seems well entrenched that no upset is expected. There are ongoing wars and coups in Africa and Latin America, even threats by Venezuela’s dictator president that he will annex Guyana and its newly discovered oil riches.
There is the Chinese threat to the Philippines, and the ongoing threats from Iran and Hezbollah against Israel. We have the exciting and perhaps daunting and even awe-inspiring advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what it portends.
There are, of course, some who project that AI is a potential threat to mankind and civil society. The push to eliminate gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles has spurred production of electric vehicles and batteries. This too is exciting, but not everything will come up roses.
Finally, in my selective list of crises around the world, let us make a catchall category that includes oppressed women (from Iran to Afghanistan and beyond, almost no country is exempt), those who face hunger, poverty, homelessness, discrimination based on race, color, creed, cast, handicap, sexual orientation, or in other words, just because they are different from those who wield power. Add to that the surge of immigrants and refugees that keep pouring into Europe, Australia, and the US, are another crisis that show no let up.
Source: Mauritius Times
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