A year that started off with the uncertainties of a pandemic is nearing its end with uncertainties of many kinds.
The battle of Brexit – having lurked around for four years – had only just started in January that a deadly contagion declared another battle with the global human population; 11 months on and both seem to continue.
While these two were still underway, the battle of US presidential elections broke out and, although seemingly ended with an outcome, left the global political theatre in much and many more uncertainties than the first two.
As all these battles took most of the headline spaces, the anti-Islamic rhetoric of the media felt neglected and successfully squeezed its way to the screens of news channels. Hence came to life another battle that now feels more like a stale chewing gum: left with no flavour but still satisfies the habit.
European countries have moved their alert levels to severe as terrorist attacks are seen to have become more likely. So here we are, at the twilight of the year 2020, with thick, dark clouds of oblivion looming the horizons.
Brexit seemed to be more an innocent teddy bear at the onset of the concept, but it gradually turned out to be a mighty monster. Similarly, Joe Biden’s election campaign was painted to appear more like an antithesis of Trump’s dark ages, while the Congress agendas were cleverly hidden behind curtains and closets of media propaganda.
Now that the election fever has receded, the world is looking at the real Joe Biden – the man with Congress orientated ambitions – in a whole new perspective. China, India, Europe, the UK, the Middle East and the USA all seem to be anticipating – or forestalling rather – what the Biden presidency might bring for them in the foreseeable future.
China is said to be worried – not because Trump was a favourite, but because they see his exit from the White House as departure of a means of America’s self-destruction. Chinese leadership will now have to test the waters carefully before proceeding to materialise their dream of becoming the world’s greatest economy; albeit against a higher tide of American diplomacy.
The question of whether America will try and forge better relations with China is a difficult one to answer at the moment as India appears as ready as ever to be an alliance of America – come Trump, come Biden. India is treading on the same path of economic prosperity as China – although adopting different measures for the same means – seeing its only hope in unreserved alliance with America.
India might want to celebrate the Indian roots of vice-president-elect Kamala Harris, but cashing in on this may not be an option as American foreign policy does not believe in any emotionality. An American politician is only American and seizes to have any other connections – be it East African or Indian.
Biden’s outspoken remarks about Kashmir – way before the presidential campaign kicked in – may have felt like a splinter when they came, but Biden will know what balm can soothe such sores.
In the UK, number 10 feels to have slipped down to, give or take, the same number in American priorities. Biden has made it clear that a UK with no Brexit deal is of no particular worth for America. Not been able to secure any deal – and no such deal realistically underway – UK is definitely under a lot of pressure and uncertainty.
Pleasantries by Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab might not go far enough to fetch the level of American goodwill required by the UK in the current political climate. No EU and no US is the nightmare giving UK government circles sleepless nights.
South Korea – a victim of unrest at the hands of its northern counterpart – seems disappointed. The only hope of a homoeopathic remedy – where like treats the like – will be out of the window as soon as Trump steps out of the White House doors.
Pakistan, as always, might only be worried about grants, aids and loans – the US ventilators that keep its failing body alive.
While all this happens, Coronavirus seems to be showing no mercy on a world that has already gone mad at the hands of political and economic lust. Infection rates are at an all-time high, while western powers appear to envy New Zealand, but without adopting similar measures to curb the spread of the virus.
Global economy has faced a serious blow and the artificially inflated balloon of capitalist economy is already at bursting point – if not beyond as facts suggest and insist.
So as the year 2020 nears its end, the world is in the tight clutches of invisible powers: the invisible virus that has brought global powers to their knees; the invisible hand of economics losing control on global economies and the invisible powers in the political arena, frustrated enough to push nations into actual battlefields.
As all this goes on, the world is repeatedly warned by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa, the global head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, of another invisible hand; the hand of God that remains the only rescue in the world as it swiftly heads towards all pain and no gain. (www.alhakam.org/latest-advice-oncoronavirus/)