The World in 2022

The World in 2022

The world in 2022, according to Iran Gate, is likely to be seen by future historians as a turning point, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. The great war has returned to Europe with the threat of nuclear attacks, and the doors of U.S. policy have been relatively firmly closed to strategic engagement with China.

Of course, the past twelve months have also brought some good news, particularly the decline of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries, leading to the end of emergency measures such as social distancing and quarantine. However, overall, 2022 was more filled with events and unpleasant news. Here, we briefly write about the most important events of the year that has just ended a few days ago.

Farewell to Queen Elizabeth II and Political Turmoil in the UK

A country whose empire once spanned the globe witnessed the change of three prime ministers in just two months. Additionally, the longest reign of Elizabeth II ended after seventy years, seven months, and two days, as she passed away on September 8, 2022, at the age of ninety-six.

But returning to the topic of government, the approximate cause of the disruption and disorder at 10 Downing Street was the resignation of over 50 members of Boris Johnson’s government in July, in protest against his seemingly endless scandals during his tenure as prime minister. Johnson agreed to resign, and Liz Truss succeeded him.

However, Truss’s premiership lasted only 45 days, making it the shortest in British history. Truss was the last prime minister whom Queen Elizabeth II asked to form a government. She sealed her fate with immediate tax cuts, which severely devalued the British pound.

Rishi Sunak, who helped topple Johnson, became the first person of color to be Prime Minister in the UK. Initially, this millionaire of Indian descent and Hindu faith faced fierce opposition.

Britain appears to be trapped in an economic recession with 15% inflation, partly due to the sharp rise in energy prices following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The bigger issue and the main cause of Britain’s turmoil is that Brexit failed to deliver the promised economic wealth by its supporters.

Humanitarian Crisis

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has focused all attention on the flood of migrants leaving the country, overshadowing the refugee crisis in other parts of the world.

Currently, about 32 million people worldwide are refugees, meaning they have fled their countries due to persecution, conflict, or violence and war. If we also consider internally displaced persons—those who have been forced to leave their homes but still live in their home country—the number rises to over 100 million, which is 13 million more than at the end of 2021. For a clearer picture, imagine the combined populations of Ireland, Lithuania, and New Zealand.

The increase in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons is partly due to the war in Ukraine. The humanitarian crisis in countries like Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Yemen remains desperate, with no signs of fundamental conflict resolution.

Syria alone accounts for one-fifth of the world’s refugee population. The only bright and encouraging point in this regard for 2023 is Ethiopia. In early November, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace agreement, ending a two-year civil war that displaced over 51 million people.

Protests in Iran

Even governments born out of protests can be overthrown by other protests, and this fact should be noted by the leaders of the Islamic Republic, who faced their most serious challenge in 2022 since coming to power in 1979.

Protests began in September due to the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was arrested by the morality police for improper hijab, transferred from detention to the hospital, and died after two days in a coma at Kasra Hospital in Tehran.

When the news of her death reached her hometown of Saqqez, hundreds gathered to protest and condemn the mistreatment of women by the morality police and law enforcement. The demonstrations quickly spread across the country, with Iranians from all social classes and ethnicities joining the protests with the slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’

The leaders of the Islamic Republic accused the United States and Israel of organizing the protests, although the driving force behind these protests had been set in motion before Mahsa’s death due to political repression, corruption, and government mismanagement in the economy.

The regime has tried to suppress the protests with force, resulting in the deaths of 450 protesters in the streets since the protests began. There have also been public executions of protesters who were hastily and theatrically tried and convicted of enmity against God and actions against national security.

The continuation of protests in the face of government repression has sparked speculation that Iran is in the early stages of a new revolution. Perhaps, but so far, the regime has shown no signs of fragmentation, and no one has emerged as a leader to lead the opposition. Will the continuation and expansion of the protests lead to the fall of the Islamic Republic and pave the way for democracy in one of the world’s most fascinating places?

Latin America’s Shift to the Left

Five years are enough to make a difference and change. In 2017, center-right politicians dominated politics in Latin America, but changes began in 2018 with the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico.

Alberto Fernández, a center-left candidate, claimed the presidency of Argentina in 2019, and socialist Luis Arce won the presidential election in Bolivia in 2020. In 2022, socialist Pedro Castillo became president of Peru, and leftist Gabriel Boric became president of Chile, with Boric being the youngest head of state in the history of this South American country at 35 years old.

Boric’s political agenda was very ambitious, with proposals including increasing taxes on so-called ultra-rich individuals to fund the country’s necessary social reforms and fundamentally reforming the private pension system.

He proposed the gradual elimination of the prevalent private health insurance system, similar to a plan by U.S. President Joe Biden, which faced opposition from his party members because they believed it would deprive less affluent segments of society of healthcare services.

Boric promised to strengthen public schools and cancel all school debts with the aim of creating a free education system for all. He also stated his intention to pass legislation to guarantee voluntary termination of pregnancy, as Chile has very limited laws on this issue.

The trend towards the left in Latin America continued in 2022, as Xiomara Castro from the Democratic Socialist Party was sworn in as the first female president of Honduras, and former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to the presidency by defeating center-right Jair Bolsonaro.

These regional shifts to the left in Latin America have a precedent. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, politicians like Hugo Chávez, Lula, and Evo Morales won elections, sparking discussions of a ‘Pink Tide.’ The Pink Tide and leftward shift are terms used in political analysis to describe the rise of leftist governments in Latin American democracies in the 21st century and the move away from the neoliberal economic model.

Can we talk about the possibility of a second Pink Tide today, given the recent trend? What is undeniable is that these leaders face a tough and uneven path to fulfilling their promises to tackle economic, gender, and racial inequalities that plague their countries. Whether they will succeed to some extent or not will be seen in 2023.

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Sometimes intelligence agencies are like the mythical Cassandra. Cassandra was the most beautiful daughter of Priam, and many joined Priam in the Trojan War hoping to marry her until Apollo fell in love with her and taught her prophecy. However, because Cassandra did not reciprocate his love, Apollo condemned her to always prophesy truthfully but never be believed. They predict events correctly, only to be disbelieved.

In late 2021, U.S. and British officials warned the rest of the world that Russia would invade Ukraine. In response, many European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed the idea of war. However, on February 24, 2022, Russia launched a ‘special military operation,’ claiming it was necessary to prevent Ukraine from becoming militarized.

To the surprise of the Kremlin and most military experts, Ukraine resisted the initial attack and then began pushing back Russian forces. Moscow abandoned its attempt to capture Kyiv and shifted its focus to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. In September, Ukrainians launched a counteroffensive that liberated the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Six weeks later, Russian forces left the southeastern city of Kherson, leading to speculation that Ukraine might seek to reclaim Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. The Russian invasion created significant geopolitical divisions. Western countries rallied behind Ukraine and supported it, while China and most countries in the Global South, despite insisting on the sanctity of national borders, refrained from declaring support for Ukraine.

Putin has targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, hoping that winter will accomplish what the Russian military could not: breaking Ukraine’s will. Meanwhile, the rest of the world struggled to adapt to the price shocks, energy crisis, and food shortages caused by Russia’s aggression.

The End of the COVID Pandemic

Three years after COVID emerged, it seems that the world moved forward in 2022. In September, the head of the World Health Organization announced that the end of the pandemic was clearly in sight. This was evident in the fact that many countries had lifted lockdowns, travel restrictions, and measures related to the global spread of COVID in early 2020, thanks to the success of vaccines and appropriate treatments.

The only exception to this trend was China. Even long after other countries had lifted COVID-related restrictions, China continued its zero-COVID policy, choosing to impose strict lockdowns and restrictions whenever and wherever outbreaks occurred.

In late 2022, the Chinese people began to rebel and protest against what Chinese authorities called their great achievement. In December, Beijing was forced to ease its COVID restrictions. However, due to the lack of effective vaccine production, refusal to import Western vaccines, and the large population, it is likely that the COVID death toll in China will rise sharply in 2023.