Not long ago, an article titled ‘The ultra right are turning our world into the last days of the Cabaret’ and published in The New European grabbed my attention which detailed the dystopian world we’re all heading toward if current trends continue without interruption.
Written by British journalist Paul Mason, the article gave examples of Roe v Wade being overturned, gun violence in the United States, conflict in Eastern Europe and rightwing majoritarianism in India and France as key factors for the impending collapse of global governance with the UN and trading blocs such as the European Union falling behind.
These aren’t opinions but facts that some of us refuse to accept or look away from. The divide amongst our communities is reaching unprecedented levels and sane voices are being drowned out for pursuing reactionary politics and infusing nationalist and even fractured religious ideas at amplified levels.
This also applies to Pakistan where all major parties have used such kind of politics to pursue their goals over the years without even caring for the masses and trampling upon political cohesion. The country’s potential as a promising member of the global community is hardly there despite some goodwill efforts on part of its diplomats who strived their best to project its soft power. Even those belonging to the showbiz and private sector have a limited role given how national politics has remained woeful over decades.
Majoritarianism is destroying the fabric of the global order where rule of law in clustered societies is eroding.
Similarly, if British politics is taken into due consideration, Brexit is a major causality for the kingdom’s stability and politicians have remained too naïve to realise it. The younger generation (rightfully) believed that the older generation robbed its right to live and work in the EU while the majority of the latter was in fact fed concocted ideas of a utopian Britain which was just an illusion for driving the political and corporate elites self-interests.
This us vs them applies to all countries where liberal and conservative ideas diverge. Being a liberal or a conservative is a personal choice but our world is heading towards a sinister reality with fascism and Neo-Nazism taking over like a pandemic whose remedy is yet to be established. The UN, once deemed a worthy successor to the League of Nations, has been reduced to an annual debating chamber for world leaders with nothing substantial done to reduce or resolve conflicts. The veto politics of the Cold War era still sustains to this day with each major P5 member looking after its interests instead of working in cohesion.
Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s assassination is another angle to consider in light of how preconceived yet deeply flawed ideas of a lone gunman could alter regional politics. This has always been the case if the history of the past century alone is read thoroughly.
Majoritarianism is destroying the fabric of the global order where rule of law in clustered societies is eroding. As someone who strongly believes in interfaith harmony and a society based on liberal values, I long for a peaceful world. However, for my inner pragmatist, it’s beyond our reach for humanity would never be at peace with itself given its historical nature.
We’re all living in a multiverse of madness where all kinds of strange characters are popping up to disrupt everything along the way. But do we have our own Avengers to deal with them? Not exactly and it’s a tragically harsh reality.
The writer is Associate Editor (Diplomatic Affairs), Daily Times. He tweets @mhassankhan06