Opinion | Another year over, a new one just begun, looking back on 2024

By Tom Fowdy

2024 has come to an end. The year has been another period of turmoil and instability in global affairs that marks the continuation, if not consolidation, of a world fraught with geopolitical competition between states. Few would look back on this year in history and state it has been a optimistic or hopeful one as a result, with the last 12 months being defined by Israel's wars in the Gaza strip and Lebanon, confrontation with Iran, the continuation of the war in Ukraine and of course, the looming return of Donald Trump to the White House. As a result, most observers would also note that 2025 is not likely to be an optimistic one either, which will surely be defined by the President's more assertive posture and escalated economic conflict with China.

However, it cannot be ignored that the Biden administration itself has arguably been the greatest force for instability in the world, not just in the past year alone, but throughout the entirety of his tenure, and for most, he will not be missed. For 2024, Biden effectively enabled the escalation of conflicts on every single front, bar perhaps China, where things did not get overtly confrontational but the US offered little interest in engagement. Thus, as is customary for the Presidential transition period, Biden used the last few months of the year to "double down" on his foreign policy legacy, again by opting for the intensification of the respective wars.

In Ukraine, offering permission for long-range strikes proved to be a costly mistake that was quietly toned down, whereas his clandestine support for Israel's blatant abuse of every international law burnt a lot of goodwill for him for the left, reducing Democratic voter turnout and ultimately allowing Trump to return to office. Despite this, the administration and its supporters appeared to be delusional if not indifferent to their own perceptions, with it becoming a running trend to pretend everything was rosy and booming. Biden certainly had a grand vision, one that attempted to reconcile the Trumpist concept of "America first" protectionism with aggressive multilateralism abroad, yet could not see the grander contradictions embedded in it, which claimed to salvage American hegemony and forcibly restore "leadership", only led to chaos.

Thus, outside of the United States, most developed economies have been in a state of stagnation in 2024, mostly as a result of the long-term complications of America's foreign policy that has actively destroyed their prosperity and stability in favor of geopolitical dominance. The US's aggressive interest rate hikes to reboot its own economy, reassert the dollar, the surging in commodity and energy prices, and the destruction of critical supply chains weaponized by politics, amongst other things have sunk Britain and Europe especially. The situation in Britain is especially grim, whereby surging inflation and costs of living have been coupled with economic stagnation at little to no growth, all while public services and infrastructure have deteriorated.

If the new Labour government which was elected in July set out to transform Britain, they have already been struck with record unpopularity, showing the superficiality of their election victory amidst a flawed electoral system. Starmer instead has become entangled with bitter cultural conflicts as the country's rapidly changing identity wrestles with economic decay, thus leading to an explosion of unrest in the August riots. For me personally, never has the situation in Britain ever looked bleaker, with a lot of the problems effectively originating from the previous Conservative government who destroyed Britain's ties with China and Europe in the pursuit of subservience to American preferences chasing a trade deal that never materialized.

I believe Britain is the first developed and industrial country to "fall backward" and the events of 2024 have been a strong indicator of that for me, with economic crime surging in the phone of mass phone thefts in London, a record surge in shoplifting and burglaries throughout the country amongst other things. Yet, elsewhere is no better. Ursula Von Der Leyden is another bad actor who has hamstrung Europe with her unbridled arrogance, while even the powerhouses of Asia (yes including China) have stuttered. I am admittingly pessimistic about China as well, and I do not believe that the country's official GDP figures are reflective of the reality on the ground based on what I have seen, discussed, and observed directly

Ultimately, as much as I hope I am wrong, 2024 has held a looming feeling over me that the "good times are over" amidst this world of turmoil and conflict, and there is no reason to believe they will return amidst Donald Trump's second term. Instead, the Neoliberal economic system of globalization that has driven the world to prosperity since the 1980s is breaking down, and thus the "liberal era" is fading with a resurgence in nationalism, populism, political polarisation, and internal and external conflicts. Happy new everyone, maybe 2025 might just surprise us…

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

Read more articles by Tom Fowdy:

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Opinion | Why the Trump administration has its eyes on Panama

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Opinion | How Chinese Spy Scandals are orchestrated political theatre in Britain