Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 04, 2015 Letters
Dear Editor,
At midnight December 31, 2014, celebrations of spectacular fireworks, lit up the skies all around the world. It was the end of a year and the dawning of another. Many remain grateful for life, health and the opportunity to see the beginning of a new year; many more did not make it across. They have transcended this earthly, physical world. But as we look into the rear-view mirror of our world, and accelerate into the future, some events have already shaped our global society and the way we will move forward, in 2015. For me, six global events have already influenced realities in 2015:
First: the situation with Russia: Russia annexed Crimea and threatened all of Ukraine. It happened in mid-March. This raised speculations about a new Cold War. The situation was facilitated by the failure of the government of Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich. He resigned from office in February and fled the country in the wake of aggressive political activism that started three months earlier over his unwillingness to sign a much anticipated trade deal with the EU. Ukraine, which has been trapped between the East and the West for much of its history, found itself at the mercy of its much larger Russian neighbour once again. On 27 February, pro-Russian militants acting, apparently, under the subtle influence of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, took control of the Crimean capital.
Also, in a highly suspicious referendum, 95 percent of the Crimeans who voted favoured returning to the mother land- Russia, which had controlled the peninsula before 1954. Of course, Moscow went beyond that. In May, pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine declared independence. After that, they held their own elections. Meanwhile, the rest of Ukraine elected pro-Western Petro Poroshenko, in May, as its new president.
The West recognised Poroshenko’s victory. Its criticism of Moscow’s aggression was more rhetoric that action. However, when in late July a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down over rebel-held territory, the United States and EU responded by increasing a series of sanctions against Russia. But that did not really change the behaviour of Russia, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in September. Sadly, so far, in excess of three thousand souls have perished in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Even if the crisis ends soon, the world will have to live with the aftermath of that event, including strain in the relations between Russia and the West. This has potential to influence the colour and shape of the geopolitical map.
Second: the Pro-Democracy Campaign in Hong Kong. Two different systems have been the operating principle for Chinese rule of Hong Kong since the British returned the city to Chinese control in 1997. The “special administrative region” of seven million people is promised certain privileges not afforded to other Chinese citizens. But Beijing has not always kept its end of the bargain. This encouraged tensions this summer after Beijing’s harsh response to a June demonstration commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the riots in Tiananmen Square. Things got worse when Beijing, in August, announced that only candidates it approved would be allowed to run in the 2017 election for Hong Kong chief executive. The campaign demanding that Beijing permits democratic elections in Hong Kong was activated. The protesters were met with tear gas, which only prompted more people to join the protests. Participation in the protests peaked in early October, and under pressure from authorities the number of protestors dwindled to several hundred. On December 3, three protest leaders surrendered themselves. Later, police took action against the remaining protest camps. As of today, all of the camps have been cleared. That hardly signals that Hong Kong’s dissatisfaction with Beijing’s decisions has dissipated. So, we watch for more movement in that country in 2015.
Third: the political victory of Mr. NarendraModi in India. NarendraModi, the son of a poor tea seller, led the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) to a major historic victory in India’s May parliamentary elections, making it the first party in thirty years to win an absolute majority of seats. Modi ran on his record for bringing economic development to the Gujarat state when he was its chief minister. Indian voters hope he can bring the same success to India as a whole. Two challenges there: political power is decentralized in India, meaning that his opponents will have many ways to derail his plans. Second, the global economy is slowing. Therefore, the Indian economy could underperform even if things go as planned.
So far, he has tried to raise India’s visibility in the global village. In September, he spoke at the opening of the UN General Assembly, stopped by Madison Square Garden to address a noticeable crowd of supporters who chanted his name, and attended a state dinner at the White House where he fasted while his host ate. This international visibility could help to make India more attractive to investors.
Next: ISIS and its brutal activities. The emergence, in 2014, of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or simply the Islamic State. In the past, it was known as al-Qaeda in Iraq. ISIS has acted so brutally toward its enemies that al-Qaeda has denounced it. But despite that brutality, or perhaps because of it, ISIS took control of a considerable swath of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Then on June 29, ISIS declared itself to be an Islamic caliphate. ISIS beheaded three Americans. That caused President Barack Obama to order air strikes, first against ISIS targets in Iraq and then in Syria. Obama also dispatched U.S. troops to Iraq to advise the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga on how to regain the territory that ISIS has taken.
Then, Iran launched its own air strikes on ISIS, making it and the United States uneasy allies. The air strikes have slowed ISIS’s advance, but the group still controls a sizeable amount of territory, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. ISIS also continues to draw pledges of allegiance from other jihadi groups, and foreign jihadists, including some Americans, continue to flock to Syria to join ISIS.
Then: the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. This remains a mystery. How is it possible for a plane to just disappear without trace? At end of 2014, we are no closer to any answers. It might have been a tragic accident. Or it might have been hijacked. These are only speculations; no one knows for sure. According to reports, the plane lost contact with air traffic control over the South China Sea, where territorial disputes abound. Notwithstanding, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, and the United States all contributed to the search effort, making it a great instance of international cooperation; a very positive for international relations.
Finally: Ebola. None of the above political events had a more debilitating effect on the sensibilities of humankind as this dreaded disease- Ebola. It straddles environmental and public health with enormous social, economic and other implications on the global village for generations to come.
With a mighty and deadly blow it stuck West Africa. It crept up almost unnoticed to the global society in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone in March. This could be because in previous outbreaks, the death toll from the disease, which was first discovered in 1976, seldom exceeded a few dozen victims and never exceeded three hundred.
In 2014, so far, about six thousand people have died from Ebola, and a few cases have presented in Europe and the United States. This year’s outbreak was different partly because it started in a more densely populated area and also because initial international response was veryslow. However, the subsequent international response has made some difference. Liberia has made progress against the virus, though more cases are being reported in Sierra Leone. Researchers around the world are trying to develop a vaccine; it may not be ready anytime soon. But the economic and other costs of the epidemic could continue long after it ends.
Undoubtedly, the activities of humankind to encroach upon natural habitats, changing them as they go along, to fell trees, and extract other natural resources and move animals and people, and the different viruses they carry, the greater the potential for infection and the spread of pathogens new to humans.
These events have, in my opinion, locked us on a path, that requires very strong collaboration and cooperation, among world leaders, to avoid our global village from slipping into an undesirable place.
Royston King
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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