This year, 2007 may well be viewed as one in which the world is being compelled to awake and be aware to the alarming fact that humankind had deluded itself into thinking it could always borrow its way out of trouble. The pressing issue of climate change and the varied challenges it poses to the continued existence of human survival is beginning to strike home only now, with some seriousness. In the face of depleting natural resources, the human competition for control has intensified, thus creating the likelihood of future conflicts; and jeopardizing the need for a shared humanity.
Furthermore, states and nations are yet to find an acceptable praxis that will enable peaceful and just solutions to the critical questions of democracy, justice and self-determination. This has only heightened the threat to human security, leading humankind further into an abyss of grave uncertainty. There is no doubt that the world is in a state of crisis, that needs immediate attention and is in grave want of an imagination which will empower and propel humankind to constructively address the imperative vision of a shared humanity. The year 2008 will hopefully be the year in which this reality sets in.
Political bickering and clash of values best symbolizes how the year has been. It reflects a world that is increasingly finding itself engulfed and suffocated in the mire of human dilemmas with moral implications and spiritual consequences. The degree of hatred, division, suspicion and violence has only proved that it is a world that is far from being a globalized world that accommodates differences. These questions have adequately demonstrated the despairing absence of strong leadership and visionary statesmanship at all levels across the world.
Indeed, there is an urgent want for leaders and statesman who can transcend exclusivity and take steps to bridge the great divide by building political consensus on issues that are inclusively fundamental to the yearning of a shared humanity. The world is thirsting for leaders and statesman that will embrace an inclusive ideology of hope; a hope that is not equated and misled by a misplaced understanding of reality, but Hope that is derived from the power of critical imagination that propels a committed struggle for human dignity. To this end the elements of assumption and despair that stand to contradict the values of hope must be overcome.
Essentially, one must ensure that 2008 is not a repeat of 2007. This implies that 2008 must be a pledge for real and serious change. One can no longer shirk but see through changes that are vital for the future. The issues of welfare, energy, education, health, climate change, transport, pension, employment, housing, livelihood, employment and self-governance are at the center of national security, and must be respected as such. No longer can national security be monopolized by a reductionist concept of territory and fear of a ‘dignified other.’ 2008 must be regarded as the year for stepping up long term transformation as an immediate priority.
2008 must be approached and lived out with imagination coupled with critical solidarity. The realization that interdependence within and between societies is a necessity needs to be accepted with integrity, so that its realization becomes more realistic. Hence genuine processes to bridge polarized opinions and positions; and healing the burdens of history will prove to be a fundamental challenge for 2008. One can perhaps say that in many ways, 2008 will prove to be an important year for transition; and a year that could see the development of new ideas, which will define the future.
For too long, world politics has shirked from the ideals and values of a shared humanity. The more it is avoided, the more oppressive and violent the world has responded. And even as succeeding years avoid the necessity of a shared humanity, the more imperative it becomes to address it. The future demands that humankind must usher 2008 without fear, without reproach, without cynicism and without hatred so that in a spirit of hope and confidence and with certainty our hearts are filled with pragmatism and a hopeful imagination. Indeed, may all our hearts be filled with warmth and compassion. Happy New Year to you!
