THERE HAS been a lot of news of war or the possibility of war in the latter half of 2023, and after Palestine and Ukraine, it has spooked a lot of people.
What if those wars were just the prelude of something bigger and more far reaching? Consider the hot spots.
In Africa, Ethiopia may soon make war with Eritrea, while West Africa, from what I’ve heard, is in the process of setting up a regional conflict.
In South America, Venezuela is threatening its neighbor, Guyana.
In Europe, we have Ukraine and Russia, and although that war seems to be dialing down, the tensions in that area are not likely to go away anytime soon. There are even concerns that Russia will hit other Eastern European countries soon.
The Middle East is having a fun time with Palestine and Israel, plus the Houthis attacking ships passing through the Red Sea.
And of course, here in Asia we have the tensions with China, and India may soon join in.
That’s basically a short run down of all the conflicts or threats of conflicts that has happened in 2023. Is this a temporary glitch or a preview of things to come?
To answer that question, we will need to answer other, more difficult questions.
For example, if the Houthis continue to attack shipping, are the affected countries willing to initiate a land operation in the Middle East?
Will the United States be willing to continue supporting Israel despite growing international condemnation?
Will the United States be willing to play as World Police when Venezuela or Ethiopia attacks its respective neighbor or will it go America First and shrug its shoulders?
The answers to these and many other questions will help determine the geopolitical situation in 2024 but that’s not all.
Aside from state-to-state conflict, many countries are also facing a lot of internal problems. The Western countries are facing several political headaches, which translates to stress on the geopolitical level.
China is facing economic issues, which helping to drive its foreign policies.
Several Middle Eastern countries are demanding their leaders to start a war with Israel over Palestine. And these are just the most obvious ones. Looking at the issues from a wide lens, it feels like a lot of people are eager to start shit in 2024./PN
