Whether economic, political or military, the continued decline of Western dominance has long been noted in the international arena. Evidently, perhaps inevitably, as witnessed in finance and geopolitics, signs of an emerging new paradigm are increasingly coming to the fore with consequential upsets and clashes at multiple levels, sometimes juxtaposed against the rising stature of nations such as China, Russia, and India.
In a way all of the above should be regarded as old news, even if the processes at play may take many years and decades to run their courses. Regardless, rather than politicizing, our intention is neither to gloat nor despair, despite obvious tempting occasions to do either of that, depending on one’s own personal biases. We will instead attempt to take a more universal view to distill some of the main issues into tangible challenges that can be dealt with, notwithstanding the gravely serious nature of some of them.
Thus the miseries of moral bankruptcy, an openly corrupt press, and a political class indulging in abuse of power combine to create a profound sense of crisis. In a climate of crumbling trust, growing social unrest, moreover, is reinforced by the folly of foreign policies bent on militarism and proxy wars in hot spots across the world. With rampant corruption more or less everywhere, meanwhile, the specter of financial turmoil lurks gloomy, with a reset of the world’s monetary system not merely a likely scenario but an urgent necessity.
To be clear, a complex web of megatrends in every major area of policymaking and human activity appears to unfold, underpinned by sweeping advances in science and technology and fueled by an enormous current of diverse developments in everything ranging from religion and cultural affairs to socioeconomics to global health and security issues.
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