The year 2021 in the world | Still captives of our bubble countries

If, in 2020, we sometimes had the impression that the world had stopped turning, the pandemic sending us each back to our lands, the year 2021 will not have been the hoped-for antidote.

The backstory: the fold

Yes, the planes took off again and we started looking elsewhere, but the silos continued to take their toll. The year was not yet a week old when a conspiratorial nebula stormed the Capitol in Washington. Conspiracy theories have also been seen slowing COVID-19 vaccination in many countries. This same vaccination was a real war of steeples between rich countries. As the year draws to a close, the stretching pandemic still strives to make us understand that it will not have its last word until we adopt comprehensive solutions rather than addressing each other. our little yard. This is true in health, but also in the fight against climate change, one of the other major challenges of the year. A lesson to turn into action in 2022.

The fiasco of the year: the withdrawal from Afghanistan

If there is one image that will have marked the year, it is that of Afghans falling from American planes to which they had clung in the hope of fleeing their country in mid-August. In the weeks leading up to this scene of despair, the world watched in amazement as Afghan cities fell like dominoes into the hands of the Taliban. And all this after trillions of foreign investments to equip the country with an army which was to take over from the departure of the United States and NATO troops, but which was instead sold piece by piece to the Islamists ultrarigorists. Canada, which withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014, has not been particularly successful in its belated efforts to rescue the thousands of Afghans who have assisted its military, diplomats and Canadian journalists for 20 years. Deeply disappointing.

Can do better next year: US President Joe Biden

After four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, marked by unpredictability, lies and a lack of compassion for much of the planet, hopes that Joe Biden would raise the bar were high. Maybe too big, because they were partially disappointed. The Canada-US relationship may be less explosive, but it remains difficult. The Democratic president continues to play the protectionist card. President Biden’s migration policies – particularly with regard to Haitians – did not shine through their humanism. The United States has also turned its back on France, to sell nuclear submarines to the Australians. At the end of the year, Joe Biden has once again reached out to his old allies, but there is still a mismatch between the conciliatory tone and the somewhat navel-blue background.

Zero of the year: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

Abiy Ahmed had been Prime Minister of Ethiopia for barely a year when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. And for good reason. Upon coming to power, the 41-year-old managed to settle a conflict with Eritrea that had dragged on for 20 years, freed hundreds of political prisoners and allowed the media to speak freely. He promised to unite the country. Unfortunately, two years after winning the award, the picture is quite different. The man of peace is now a war commander who asks his followers, on Facebook, to “bury” the Tigray rebels who stand up to him. The war of the past year has left thousands dead and millions displaced. Famine threatens large sections of the population. Serious human rights violations, including sexual violence, have also been reported. The man of peace is just a memory.

Heroine of the Year: Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Often underestimated, described as a cautious politician, somewhat withdrawn, Angela Merkel will often have caused surprise during her reign as Chancellor of reunified Germany. Nothing predisposed this scientist, daughter of a Lutheran pastor, raised in East Germany, to become the most powerful woman on the planet. And to remain at the head of the most prosperous country in Europe for 16 years, playing a crucial role within the European Union. Cautious, certainly, but daring too. She was the one who decided to welcome 1 million migrants to her country in 2015 when much of Europe was closing its doors to them. And all of Germany was speechless when, for the military ceremony that was given to mark her departure from power in early December, Angela Merkel chose a big hit from a punk singer from the former Germany of the East. And curtain!