Events that shaped the global arena in 2022

2022 has been a year full of ups and downs, from the Russia-Ukraine war, Ethiopia-Tigray war, Messi winning the Qatar 2022 World cup hence sealing his fate as the world's greatest footballer, and the African continent hosting the COP27 in Egypt.

Garowe Online takes a reflection on how the year was and what to expect come the new year of 2023.

2022 will go down in history as one of the years no one would love to remember with fondness.

Death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving British monarch.

September 8th, the world was covered in a dark cloud when the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving British monarch.

Her death ended the longest reign in the history of the United Kingdom, and one of the longest by any head of state. Elizabeth II, who became Queen on the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952, reigned for 70 years, seven years more than Queen Victoria did.
She was 96 and suffering from age-related health issues.

With her death, her eldest son, Charles, the former Prince of Wales, was anointed as King and will be officially known as King Charles III.

Brazil’s National Elections saw Left Wing emerging winners

Brazil -A south American economic powerhouse held its national elections where the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva- Left candidate emerged victorious.

Lula da Silva, former head of state who was imprisoned went from prisoner to president in just three years.

Having been jailed in April 2018 after being convicted in a corruption scandal. After being imprisoned for about a year and a half, he was released in 2019 when Brazil’s Supreme Court found that the previous judge in the case was biased and annulled his conviction.

Lula da Silva won by a razor-thin margin, polling 50.9% of the votes compared to 49.1% for Bolsonaro, in one of the country’s tightest presidential races. He will be officially sworn in for a four-year term on January 1, 2023. Lula da Silva will have a tough task on his hands getting the country back on track.

The global population hit the 8 billion mark

The world population touched 8 billion on November 15, with India being the largest contributor to the milestone, according to the United Nations (UN). India added 177 million to the final score.

India has another distinction to look forward to in 2023 as well when it is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation. China’s contribution to the next billion in the global population is projected to be in the negative, says the UN.

It took the world 11 years to add one billion people to the population, with growth gradually slowing down. According to the UN, it could take 15 years to reach nine billion, and it does not expect the figure to reach 10 billion by 2080.

Africa hosted the COP27 and the landmark compensation fund

For the first time, first-world nations have decided to pay for the damage an overheating world is inflicting on poor countries by establishing a fund for “loss and damage.” The landmark decision was taken at the UN climate summit in Egypt’s Sharm-El-Sheikh in November.

India termed COP27 “historic” for securing the agreement, saying “the world has waited far too long for this.” However, the outcome of other crucial issues, such as India’s call for a phasedown of all fossil fuels, showed little progress.

It was a big win for the poorer nations, which have long called for cash — sometimes viewed as compensation — because they often fall victim to devastating floods, droughts, heat waves, famines, and storms caused by climate change despite having contributed little to it.

The G77 and China (India is part of this group), least developed countries, and small island states had put forward the proposal for a loss and damage fund. Vulnerable countries had said that they would not leave COP27 without it.

Billionaire Elon Musk takes over Twitter

In 2022 billionaire Elon Musk finally bought Twitter for $44 billion in October. The eccentric business tycoon took control of Twitter on October 28 after firing its top executives, CEO Parag Agarwal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of legal policy, trust, and safety, Vijaya Gadde. And then started Twitter’s run of misfortunes and controversies.

Rishi Sunak Indian origin is elected as UK Prime Minister

The United Kingdom had a most dramatic 2022, what with losing its beloved Queen and having three Prime Ministers in one year. The drama started with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigning on July 7 after facing a string of scandals. Liz Truss was named the new Conservative leader after a fierce leadership battle in which Indian-origin MP Rishi Sunak came in second.

She took charge on September 6 with her grand promises of tax cuts, but things went downhill soon after. Thanks to her unfunded tax-cutting policies, markets nosedived, turning many Tory MPs against her. In a desperate bid to save her sinking ship, Truss sacked her trusted aide Kwasi Kwarteng — ironically, for enforcing her economic policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer — and roped in Jeremy Hunt for the post.

However, the ship could not be saved and, finally, Truss resigned in October. As widely anticipated, Sunak won the Conservative Party leadership race unopposed and was sworn in on October 25 when King Charles III invited him to form a government.

Chinese Communist Party hands Xi Jinping a third term

The ruling party of the People's Republic of China -Chinese Communist Party hands Xi Jinping a third term on October 23 cementing his place in history as the nation’s most influential leader since Mao Zedong after being re-elected for an unprecedented third term as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and, by default, the president of the country.

The 69-year-old Xi became the first leader of the ruling CPC after founder Mao Zedong to get re-elected for a third term, with the prospect of ruling China for life. Xi’s third term ended the decades-old rule followed by his predecessors — barring Mao — of retiring after a 10-year tenure.
Xi’s emergence as the Chinese President, CPC leader, and head of the military, with the prospect of ruling for life, is viewed with unease and concern, as the one-party state gradually becomes a one-leader state.

Sri Lanka’s scorching economic crisis

The Sri Lankan economic crisis started mostly as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since about mid-2021, economic conditions started growing difficult for everyday Sri Lankans. Fuel and cooking gas became increasingly expensive and difficult to get as inflation soared. The government clamped import bans.

By the time protests began in the nation in April, things had come to such a pass that schools had been shut, basic food items had gone out of the reach of the common man, and long power cuts had become the norm. Even life-saving medicines were nearly out of stock, said Sri Lanka’s doctors.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The most significant world event of 2022 would have to be Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Insecure over Ukraine’s growing closeness to NATO members, Russia on February 24 launched what it called a “special military operation” to force the “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.”

The world continues to struggle with supply disruptions, price shocks, and food shortages. As people kept hoping for a ceasefire, 2022 has ended with its possibility looking bleak.

GAROWE ONLINE