The state of the world

If there is one fact that people everywhere in the world would agree on, it is that the world is in a very precarious state currently.

According to the 2026 Doomsday Clock statement, the world is ‘86 seconds to Midnight’. ‘Midnight’ is the apocalyptic scenario that represents the end of the world as we know it.

It is the closest the Doomsday Clock has ever been to ‘Midnight’.

A publication known as the ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J Robert Oppenheimer and scientists of the University of Chicago who developed the first atomic bomb in what was known as the Manhattan Project. A direct outcome of their labour was the dropping of atomic bombs by the USA on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Eighty years and counting after the Manhattan Project, nine countries of the world have atomic bombs. These include not just the familiar juggernauts of the USA, Russia and Europe, but less predictable entities such as Israel, South Africa, Pakistan and India. Between them, these nine countries have enough bombs to blow up the world several times over. The big countries are supposed to be held back from ever contemplating nuclear attack on each other by the principle of ‘mutually assured destruction’ (MAD) which guarantees that any such attack would attract instant retaliation, and both nations would perish. Unfortunately, some of the smaller nuclear powers, and the even more dubious ones that are seeking to join the elite club, such as North Korea and Iran, are not constrained by any such inhibitions.

The Bulletin published by these guilt-ridden eggheads introduced the concept of a Doomsday Clock to symbolise the feared catastrophe of nuclear holocaust that would end the planet, but also as a metaphor for gauging the level of threat to human existence from a multiplicity of causes such as wars, epidemics, political crisis, and climate change. The clock is set once every year by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, in consultation with a Board of Sponsors which includes eight Nobel laureates. A strong relationship has also been formed with a group known as The Elders, which at various times has included Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland.

The assessment of the Bulletin is that in 2026 the world is at the greatest level of risk that it has ever been. There are ‘Wars, and Rumours of War’.

In the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has expanded to include Europe and the USA, the threat of use of nuclear weapons has been repeatedly raised. Despite existing treaties to limit nuclear proliferation, there is a frantic nuclear race ongoing still between the nuclear powers.

Nuclear issues apart, there is an unprecedented level of hostility and strife within and between the states of the world on virtually every continent. In addition to the ongoing conflict between Israel and USA on one side, and Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, a conflict that has already wreaked unprecedented levels of intentional and collateral human and material carnage with no clear end in sight, there are other wars, with huge potentials of expansion. A horrendous civil war is raging in Sudan, which has killed hundreds of thousands and resulted in the largest refugee crisis on earth. In the Sahel, the war against Islamic insurgents who claim to fight for the rarified agenda of ‘uniting’ all the world under a Caliphate, whether the world wants such ‘unity’ or not, is raging, making governance and normal life almost impossible for the hapless people of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Only last week, the terrorists carried out multi-pronged attacks in Mali, murdering leaders, apparently intent on taking over the country. In Nigeria, especially the North, killing and kidnapping is still rife, with people being intentionally driven off their land, despite the visibly more determined efforts of gallant security forces. The doublespeak and political correctness concerning whether there is ‘religious genocide’ has not been definitively laid to rest, and the subject is shrouded in impenetrable mystery. The Trump missile to Sokoto appears to have been a coded message that was quietly received and digested. Lately there has been talk of a military pact with Turkey. It leaves anyone who knows History and Psychology aghast. Strongman, ‘Last Man Standing’ Erdogan! In some circles he is one of the most distrusted men on earth, and it is not just Armenians or the supporters of late Fethullah Gulen, or his local enemies the Mayor of Istanbul and the Republicans who he is squeezing in the palm of his hand. He is a man without compunction about drastic action, some of which may be underhanded. It may be an act of diplomatic ‘balancing’, but hopefully someone somewhere will be sleeping with both eyes open when the Turks arrive in Nigeria.

South Africa is roiling with xenophobia, and it is clear now that never in their national lives have they needed strong moral and political leadership as much as they do now. Unfortunately, Cyril Ramaphosa is no Madiba, standing above the fray to point the way. It is a shame, whose payback is already poisoning the well of African unity, but it is what it is.

There is a 25% increase in the incidence of Anxiety and Depression all over the world, The reasons are legion, and obvious.

Climate change is getting worse, with harsh unpredictable weather in many of the world’s cities. High temperatures, flooding and other disasters are happening more frequently. Food insecurity is rampant. More than two billion people cannot access safe drinking water. Virtually all the world is breathing contaminated air which exceeds WHO pollution standards.

Everywhere you look, there are tough times, and tough issues.

It is not all doom and gloom. It has always been within the power of mankind to find solutions, intentionally, once it frames its problems. It needs to, now.