A ‘powder keg that risks engulfing the world’
Every country focuses on the issues that concern it directly and, in this light, we in Greece, have in recent days been focusing on the Greek Prime Minister’s attendance of the United Nations General Assembly, where every year leaders from all over the world present their assessments and concerns about the present and the future.
In the case of Greece, the most important development in New York was Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which, according to all indications, took place in a forward-looking environment, reflecting the relatively positive course of bilateral relations over the last year and a half.
However, what is dominating the agenda these days at the headquarters of the United Nations goes beyond individual countries and local conflicts. It is the pervasive anxiety of many leaders, both democratic and authoritarian, about the course of humanity.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke of “a powder keg that risks engulfing the world,” while US President Joe Biden, in his last speech before the General Assembly, spoke of the “inflection point” humanity is in today and warned of the dangers lurking ahead, noting that “our task – our test – is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those that are pulling us apart.”
The two major ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are causing thousands of deaths and massive destruction, while the hatred in the regions where the wars are playing out is raising fears of what may lie ahead in the coming years, even if hostilities end. At the same time, there are new points of lurking tension which could develop into regional crises at any moment.
And then there’s all the uncertainty about developments in the United States, where after the November elections domestic politics could turn into quicksand. This potentially carries risks, not only for the US itself but for many other regions of the planet, including the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean – given the superpower’s global role and influence.
Geopolitical uncertainty combined with technological advancements in weapons systems and military strike methods make for an even more explosive mix. All this is added to the increasing inequality within and between countries, and the receding tolerance, solidarity and rule of law, even in the West, where these have been its fundamental principles.
In this foggy and unpredictable environment there are some – officials in positions of responsibility – who go as far as to threaten the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, an increasing number of people talk about World War III.
Fear about what might be coming is rising.
