Since the publication of Uncharted Territory in February 2019 a series of events took place that jolted the entire world. Covid-19 a pandemic with deadly virus first struck Wuhan province in China and killed a large number people in weeks. The virus moved at an astonishing speed and within months 200 countries fell prey to the pandemic.
President Donald Trump’s endorsement of white nationalism promoted racial hatred in the United States. His disdain for the international organizations and love for anti-immigrant rightist leaders in Europe exacerbated the destabilization process in the world. Though newly elected President Joe Biden rushed to restore American leadership abroad, the international community had its doubt about Washington’s credibility. Biden’s abrupt troops withdrawal from Afghanistan without prior consultation with European partners and neighboring countries in Asia could not win skeptics at home and abroad.
Russia’s protracted war in Ukraine and annexation of four eastern regions following a farcical referendum on 30 September 2022 do not bode well. Moscow’s threat of resorting to nuclear weapon to score victory over Kyiv endangered peace in Europe.
Hope and Despair is a collection of essays I wrote on the above issues in the past three years. These were duly published in the Financial Express, Dhaka; some with different headlines.