Why the Status Quo in Societies Around the World Could be Upended

Earth is facing a catastrophic climate emergency, according to 14,000 scientists from 153 countries. Six years ago, most nations of the world agreed in Paris to collaborate on fighting the most urgent threat to our way of life and take action to limit the Earth’s average global temperature to 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels. Today, as North America is still reeling from an unprecedented Heat wave, China experiences catastrophic floods, Europe suffers from both floods as major rivers burst from unexpected rain and drought-facilitated wildfires from Portugal to Turkey; Pakistan declares some populated regions to become uninhabitable for humans within the next 5 years and one solemn truth is undeniable: We have entered the age when the catastrophic scenarios of past predictive models are becoming reality around the globe. And yet the debate remains politicized and tangible action timid.

Since the United States became a country, its foreign policy has been split between two paradigms, one that is isolationist in nature and one that is more globalist. The question of American responsibility and its own self-interest in intervening in the affairs of other countries, both diplomatically and/or militarily, was a debate that continued to dominate American foreign policy in defining its view of its role in the world.

In today's agitated political environment in Chile, fueled by the rapid polarization of ideas, division of classes and resentment, we find an increasing trend towards discontent with current political and economic establishments which has given fuel to populist ideas and movements. To understand this socio-economic tension, we must consider the evolution of Chile from the years of radical communism where land expropriation was a common practice, to the period of military government where companies were re-privatized and the subsequent transition to democracy. The current situation is the result of a growing resentment coming from a general feeling that capitalism was not chosen but imposed upon them by the military government of General Pinochet. Although this may be true, Chile’s capitalism has created economic progress that enabled it to stand out as one of the region's most developed and advanced economies.

In the wake of the 2021 elections for the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body, a new government was formed that ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving Israeli prime minister, from power by a narrow margin of one vote. Yet, Netanyahu, now head of the opposition, is not out of the political game, even though he is going to face a leadership contest in his own party and has failed to move the date of the primary to his benefit. This new ruling coalition, headed by Naftali Bennett of the religious right-wing Yamina party and Yair Lapid of the secular, centrist Yesh Atid party, is a motley lot comprised of anti-Netanyahu right wingers to secular leftists to Islamists. While the credo of being against Netanyahu bound them together, it remains to be seen how they can form a long-lived stable government given their diverse and conflicting interests. The new government’s ability to implement its domestic and foreign policy agenda therefore serves as a key measure of its continued viability. In other words, the ability of a government to set an agenda and pass laws or act effectively on the world stage to advance this agenda are yardsticks to judge whether the coalition will be stable.

Political tensions have been escalating between Ethiopia and Egypt in a conflict over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the largest hydropower plant on the continent. Egyptian dependence on water from the Nile has caused it to view recent actions with the dam taken by Ethiopia, as an existential threat. Since the Nile runs through Ethiopia, downstream into Egypt, the Egyptian government won't tolerate any Ethiopian moves which affect the Egyptian share of the river’s water. For millennia, the Nile River has been the main source of water for various purposes including drinking, household uses, agriculture and fishing. Even today, more than 96% of Egypt's freshwater resources come from the Nile. The GERD project is very important for Ethiopia's economy, because the dam will provide huge amounts of electric power to its population of 115 million people (two-thirds of whom are without electric power) and will even allow it to export power to neighboring countries. Ethiopia has responded to Egypt’s complaints by insisting it will not affect the Egyptian share of the Nile's waters.