2024: The Long Overdue End of an Unjust System

The New Year has been ushered in amid great tumult and uncertainty. The headlines are full of reports on wars and destruction, combined with news on the “inevitable” economic decline to expect in the West. Despite the immediate emotional reaction to these events, one should not lose sight of the larger underlying process at work. That is, the end of the modern neocolonial world system.

The West’s policy of permanent imperial war, preferably waged by proxies, be it in Ukraine, in Gaza, or in many other hotspots around the world, must be replaced by a policy of economic development as the basis for peace and cooperation. One vehicle for achieving such a new paradigm in international relations remains China’s Belt and Road Initiative, another is the BRICS grouping, which, as of January 1, 2024, has expanded to five new members, four of which are in the South-West Asia area (Egypt, Iran, Saudia Arabia, United Arab Emirates), and is now under the rotating presidency of Russia.

However, it is essential that European nations and the United States recognize that it is completely in their own interest to join in the new dynamic and to choose the path of cooperation over confrontation with the rest of the world.