The year 2023 could be considered a tumultuous year for the whole world. The year was marked by many conflicts, clashes, tensions, and different tragic events around the world. The end of the year without an end to any persistent conflict is resulting in the passing instability and clashes in the world in the year ahead. Just like in the past, the key player behind most of the clashes in the world is the United States of America and its economic motivations. In the year 2023, the Israel-Hamas war is one of the most famous events. Israel’s brutal genocide in Gaza filled pessimism among the people of the world for the coming year. This war divided the world into two halves. One stratum of the people support the innocent people of Palestine, while the other strata, supported by the West, stand with the war crimes of Israel. The United States and some of its European allies have tried their best to hamper all the efforts of any humanitarian truce in Gaza despite the death of more than 21700 people, mostly civilians including minors and women.
Many analysts around the world hold that the main rationale behind the West’s support of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza is to support their weapon and arms industry. The weapon industry in the United States has made considerable profits due to the wars around the world. After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Israel-Hamas war provided them with a novel opportunity to them. Moreover, the West also seeks to benefit from Israel’s covert plan of building the Ben Gurion Canal after occupying Gaza and displacing the native people of the region. Gaza also holds a colossal amount of gas reserves. Israel has already issued a license to explore offshore gas reserves in the region. This demonstrates the clandestine intentions of Israel behind its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.
Many, including President Putin, have warned that this war can expand beyond the region. As expected, the Israel-Hamas war is expanding beyond Gaza. The Houthi forces from Yemen have declared war against Israel. They have targeted different ships and vessels in the Red Sea to pressure the West to resort to peace in Gaza and coerce Israel from killing innocent civilians. These attacks by Houthi forces have put global trade at stake and are likely to increase inflation around the world in the coming months.
Another significant issue in 2023 was the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conflict started in 2021 and still continues. Russia has demonstrated its willingness to peace talks with Ukraine. However, it seems that the United States and the Western lobby do not want peace in Ukraine and the region as well. Many analysts around the world, including prominent Western political scientists like Noam Chomsky, blame NATO and the United States for the Russia-Ukraine war. The war economy of the United States is considered one of the main driving forces behind the non-serious attitude of the country about the plight of its ally – Ukraine. The United States has not taken any significant measures to stop this war. Reports suggest that the United States is the direct beneficiary of this conflict. Many European diplomats have also endorsed this claim, as the US is selling LNG at a much higher rate than Russia. This conflict has resulted in a significant increase in inflation in the EU. Most likely, the people in the EU will force their governments to resort to a peaceful end to this conflict due to rising inflation and energy crises throughout the bloc.
With the end of the year 2023, Pakistan is entering an election year. The country saw different political and economic upheavals. PTI, one of the major political parties of the country, faced a severe crackdown after the party workers attacked the military and intelligence bases in the country after the arrest of their leader on 9th May 2023. As per reports, these attacks caused a loss of almost 6 billion rupees to the country. Allegedly, these attacks were conducted at the behest of the party leader Imran Khan. PTI, itself, is also paying a heavy price for this war as most of the top leadership parted ways from the party. On the other hand, hundreds of party workers are still incarcerated and are facing terrorism charges. Political unrest in Pakistan also resulted in huge economic losses as well. The unemployment rate in the country was predicted to be 8.5 percent in 2023 by the IMF. The rising unemployment rate in Pakistan led to a massive brain drain in the country. Almost, 540000 people left the country in the first seven months of 2023 in search of better job opportunities.
Pakistan’s political and economic crisis was also followed by a significant rise in terrorism in the country. The establishment of the Taliban government has provided safe havens to different terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. According to Pakistani officials, different terrorist organizations like TTP and ISKP use Afghan soil to conduct terrorist activities in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the country observed an almost 67 percent surge in terrorism in the first eleven months as compared to the previous year. Overall, the year 2023 could be considered a year of instability and unrest for Pakistan.
The great power rivalry between China and the United States saw no breakthrough during the year. The two countries have their competitive policies to gain hegemony over the globe. The United States strengthened its relations with India to counter China in the region. The United States also increased its presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, Russia is also expanding its military presence in the region through naval exercises with India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The expansion of BRICS has provided a significant boost to China and Russia’s power. Both countries are emerging as the new superpowers of the world. On the other hand, this expansion has resulted in further decreasing the hegemony of the United States. However, one significant move that is ending the year with optimism is the Xi-Biden summit. Both the powers decided to mend their fences due to their domestic issues. Nonetheless, analysts around the world suggest that this move is just intended to gain political leverage at home by both presidents.
Other countries and regions around the world also faced different clashes and calamities around the world. This included clashes in Condo, Sudan, and the Middle Eastern region. Turkey and Syria were hit by a severe earthquake in 2023 which resulted in huge economic and human losses. Overall, the year was replete with different wars, clashes, and tragedies around the world. These clashes and wars are also expected to continue in the coming year.
Abbas Hashemite – is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist, exclusively for “New Eastern Outlook”.