A man stares at the devastation in the aftermath of an Israeli strike that targeted the Sfeir neighbourhood in Beirutís southern suburbs on October 6, 2024. The year 2024 has been marked by sweeping political, social, and environmental shifts that will undoubtedly shape the global trajectory for years to come, argues the writer. (Photo by AFP)
2024 HAS certainly been an eventful year and there is little doubt that people across the world, not only in South Africa, must be quite exhausted.
One of the most significant features of the global political landscape was that a whopping 80 countries went to elections including our own country, Brazil, India, Russia, the US, the UK, France, Russia and our neighbours: Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique but to mention a few.
Estimates are that this represented nearly four billion people directly being affected by the outcomes of these elections.
While the world watched in bewilderment Donald Trump being elected for a second term in the US, it was almost inevitable that Labour would win in the UK. The snap elections in France were a direct result of the European Parliament elections outcome and the emergence of the Right on that continent.
Ironically, this year was the centennial anniversary of the National Fascist Party, under Benito Mussolini, winning a two-thirds majority in Italy. The country has a right-wing government today.
Riots by the right also broke out in the UK whereas abandoning its historical position of neutrality, Sweden joined NATO this year.
As in South Africa, where the governing party was able to hold onto power for quite some time, the majority party lost its majority as happened in Botswana and Japan. Yet Namibia also saw its first woman president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, being elected president.
In some cases, such as Bangladesh, despite the outcomes of the elections, the people were still dissatisfied and took to the streets. The same currently applies in Mozambique.
What remains a concern is that these democracies have a history of civil war, which is the case in Mozambique, and military leaders, as in the case of Bangladesh. If the situation is not arrested adequately there may be no guarantee that they will not spiral out of control again. Old political habits die hard.
These elections, no doubt, do not only affect the populations where they were held but, as is the case with the US, Germany and France, will have a direct effect on the global balance of power.
For example, the conflict in Ukraine is directly impacted by the outcomes of these elections and may be resolved in the first part of the new year.
On the first day of this year, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates became official members of the BRICS bloc.
While some believe that fewer is better, others indicate the increased potential the group now has with having key catalysts in the Middle East – Iran and the UAE – being members.
The stalling of Saudi membership of the group must remain a concern for BRICS Plus members because while Iran may be present the other Middle East powerhouse determines much of what happens in the rest of the region.
We would recall that originally the BRICS countries were primary influencers in their respective regions: Brazil in Latin America, Russia then in Europe, India in the sub-continent, China in the Far East and South Africa in Africa. Regional representation therefore remains imperative.
Significantly on the continent, Ethiopia, the East African powerhouse, became one of the major role-players on the African continent to commence the process of recognizing Somaliland as an independent country given its agreement with the region to use the port of Berbera. The province of Somalia remains unrecognized by the international community even though some countries, such as Ethiopia and the UAE, have relations with it.
For the first time, the G20 presidency was handed over to an African country while COP29, the primary forum for discussing climate change, held in Azerbaijan was seen by many as a failure.
Some global leaders also passed away tragically, among others, these included Namibian president, Hage Geingob, and Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi.
Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations while the USA won the most medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. X, formerly known as Twitter, was banned by Brazil’s highest court.
Yet the dark cloud that continued to hang over this past year was the disastrous developments in the Middle East.
While China sought to unite the Palestinian factions, the US continued to veto resolutions at the UN Security Council and continued to fund Netanyahu’s genocide efforts with more weapons.
Israel continues its genocide in Gaza while having bombed Lebanon and is currently invading Syria. All of this while Netanyahu enjoys the protection of the Saudis, US and European countries.
The global pariah has also executed extrajudicial killings with the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, Ismael Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, among others.
International institutions such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice have sought to hold Netanyahu to account but it seems that he will scoff at these as much as he has scoffed at his trial in Israel.
At the end of January, the ICJ instructed Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza while in November the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and his former minister of defence, Yoav Gallant. The warrants effectively ban the two from travelling to over 125 countries that are party to the Statute of Rome.
The advance of Israel into Syrian territory, after illegally occupying the Golan Heights since 1967, as well as the deposing of Bashar al-Assad and therefore the power vacuum in the country will plunge the region even more into instability.
This year, Zambians will have celebrated the 100th birthday of its founding father, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and it is appropriate to end the year with a quote from Dr KK:
“The independence of a country must be measured by the standard of living of its people.”
In a time in human history when many suffer from the cost-of-living crisis, the independence of many countries, especially in the global north, will need attention next year. We cannot afford to be exhausted. We must struggle on…
**Dr Wesley Seale has a PhD in international relations.
***The views here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.
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