My Liberal Views

WHAT IS OUR WORLD COMING TO?

          There is uncertainty all over the world when it comes to politics and international engagements. It has become harder to predict the next event in any country or policies a new government when it ascends to power will adopt. It is a time of great change all over the world and the question becomes: are we ready for the change or are we waiting for the change to engulf us slowly to a point of no return?

          In Africa, it started with Nigeria with the defeat of Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 presidential elections, conceded defeat and thereby becoming the first to do so. Ghana held its elections recently and the change of power was peaceful signalling the maturity of democracy in Africa. In Gambia, a dictator that had ruled the country for decades was hounded out of power after initially vowing to stay on power after being defeated in elections. In south Africa, Julius Malema’s EFF, an extremist outfit, is gaining popularity with the black majority disillusioned by the Zuma-led ANC. In Zimbabwe, Mugabe has vowed to remain in power come what may. In Uganda, the strongman Museveni still holds on to power. In Ethiopia, the government is struggling with massive protests that has led to deaths of tens of people, destruction of property and a bad image for the government internationally. With elections coming to several countries in Africa we can only wait if Africa is coming of age or the age-old problems bedevilling Africa will continue. 

          There is a wave sweeping over Europe. After the scare with the Greece and Italian financial problems, migrant crisis and terrorism; there is emerging parties advocating for nationalistic interests instead of the bureaucracy in Brussels. This is the euro-scepticism. In UK, the right-wing and populist party UKIP seems to gain traction on a section of people. Then came the shocker of the BREXIT. In France, Marie Le Pen’s euro-sceptic and populist party National Frontier has gained popularity to the point of challenging more established parties. In Germany, Angela Merkel Christian Democrat is being challenged by Alternative for Germany party. According to a poll conducted by PWC found out that there is rise in Euro-Scepticism in Spain, Italy, Greece and majority of western Europe. However, the same report found out that a majority of people in eastern Europe like Poland and Hungary were in favour of a strong EU. With the rise of these populist parties that feed on fear and paranoia, there only remains to be seen what the established parties especially the left wing will do to counter these extremist ideologies propagated by these parties. Russia under Putin is flexing its muscles in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria.

          In Asia, the rise of Chinese economic and military power has ruffled many feathers including its arch-enemy; Japan. Both are embroiled in a conflict over few islands in the South China sea. The Chinese economy overtook Japanese to become the second in the world. This is after the sluggish and economic recession Japanese economy is undergoing through. In Philippines, a tough talking president is at the helm and has ruffled feathers with Washington. He is under criticism with his style of dealing with drug menace. He is also courting Beijing at the expense of its long-time ally US. In India, an ultra-right Hindu nationalist BJP party is in power.

          In the US, the unexpected win of Donald Trump left many dumb-founded. With his populist, extremist policies the politics in the US will never be the same again. He has vowed to restrict immigration, major military build-up, review all international agreements and install protectionism measures and pursue a nationalistic policy. This will have a devastating effect throughout the world. It remains to be seen how these policies will be implemented. In Sweden, the pro- feminist government of Stefan Loften has its job cut after Sweden took most of the refugee running from the conflicts in middle east and Africa. Will its acclaimed integration policy work? Only time will tell.

In the middle East, there are conflicts ranging in several parts. The so-called Islamic State still has control over swathes of land in Iraq and Syria. The conflict in Syria may have abated but no solution is in sight. The Israel-Palestine conflict has no end in sight. In Turkey, democratic gains made in the last decade are being rolled back by the government of Erdogan in the name on crackdown on terrorism and coup planners.

While it is important that countries pursue policies that are beneficial to their citizens, this should not come at the detrimental of its obligations internationally. There are problems that can only be tackled by cooperation between countries. These populist parties that feeds on people’s paranoia and fear are a danger to the stability and development of this world. We are all citizens of this world and there is need to join hands to fights the ills facing humanity. A report by Freedom House indicates that only thirty nine percent of the world population can enjoy their rights and freedoms fully. Compare it to thirty-six, which is the percentage of world population that is unfree and twenty five percent which is partially free. This goes to show there is widespread abuse of citizens’ fundamental freedoms and rights by governments. There is rampant discrimination of people. Doesn’t matter on what grounds. For example, seventy nine states criminalises people on the basis of their sexuality and gender identity and LGBT persons can be sentenced to jail sentences. A case in point is Kenya. Inequality is another major problem. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Women’s rights haven’t been realized fully. Other problems include torture, slavery, poverty, health and education.

It is in this regard that I can only hope that nations of this world will rise beyond their differences; languages, colour, status or race and tackle this challenges and other emerging challenges such as climate change, terrorism, cyber-crimes and cross-border human trafficking as well as immigration.