Heavy rain warnings as Cyclone Hale moves in, more accusations from Prince Harry and 'Kraken' Covid strain now circulating in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
Opinion by Susan Harris Rimmer
Opinion
When 2022 began, there was trepidation about what might happen in at least 10 regions. Topping most lists were concerns about tensions in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
What actually transpired in 2022 were some of the most shocking humanitarian scenes in modern history – with a backdrop of thecontinuing pandemic and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.
This has prompted experts to speak of an era of “polycrisis”, where countries are dealing with cascading and interconnected crises.
The World Bank estimates 23 countries – with a combined population of 850 million people – currently face high or medium intensity conflict. The number of conflict-affected countries has doubled over the past decade.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a Pion artillery system at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region. Photo / AP
2022′s bitter legacy
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been seared into our memories of 2022. It has been one of the fastest and largest displacement crises in decades.
Also making headlines last year was continuing violence in Afghanistan, where six million people were on the brink of famine by August 2022 according to the UN refugee agency, and the mayhem in Myanmar following the military’s February 2021 coup.
The opening days of 2023 look bleak. Those in Ukraine and Afghanistan are now facing winter without access to food, water, health care and other essential supplies.
The situation in Myanmar is only worsening, especially for ethnic minority regions and in Rohingya refugee camps.
New flashpoint: Iran
In Iran, 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini was arrested at a metro station by the morality police who enforce the dress code, and she died after being held in their custody on September 16 last year.
Her death set off a sustained uprising in more than 150 cities and 140 universities in all 31 provinces of Iran, according to UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
More than 15,000 people, including children, have been arrested in connection with the protests and are threatened with execution. At least 26 of them currently face the death penalty, and at least four have reportedly already been executed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps say the average age of arrested protesters is as young as 15.
The prospects of a peaceful resolution of this crisis in 2023 are low and require strong global intervention.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made firm statements against the death penalty and this “dark chapter” in Iran’s history with her Canadian and New Zealand counterparts, and she should continue this rhetoric.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong during a visit to New Zealand in June. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Tensions in the Asia-Pacific
In our region, Sri Lanka faced economic collapse and a mostly peaceful uprising in mid-2022, and remains in a precarious position.
North Korea remains an aggressive actor. Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen sharply this year as Pyongyang has carried out an unprecedented blitz of weapons tests, including the launch of one of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles in November.
From Australia’s perspective, our primary national security risk remains developments in the South China Sea and Taiwan.
More aggressive language on Taiwan emerged from the Chinese Communist Party Congress, and statements by President Joe Biden indicated the United States would not stand by if China invaded Taiwan.
Current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to double Japan’s defence spending in response to these tensions.
There’s a high risk of miscalculation on this issue from all sides, and there’s the growing threat of grey zone tactics – coercive measures which don’t qualify as conventional military battle.
Joe Biden has said the US won't stand by if China invades Taiwan. Right, China's President Xi Jinping. Photo / AP
We must avoid tunnel vision
What we also witnessed in 2022 was that the world’s gaze and assistance was so firmly focused on events in Ukraine that many other long-running conflicts producing extreme human suffering were ignored or receded into the background.
For example, it’s hard to overstate the severity of the crises in East Africa of food, shelter and health systems – though comparably this has received little media attention.
What’s more, the UN Human Rights Office estimates more than 306,000 civilians were killed over ten years in the Syrian conflict, and any peaceful resolution is still “elusive” according to UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen.
There are deep structural conflicts in Haiti, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatening people, species and the environment. The global community must pay attention.
Dealing with ‘polycrisis’
Nations, civil society movements and the UN must be nimble enough to deal with the state of “polycrisis” or “permacrisis” the globe is enduring – where armed conflicts combine with and exacerbate issues such as inflation, cyber threats, geo-politics and the energy crisis.
World leaders are dealing with a host of pressing issues:
