UN Secretary-General António Guterres (photo: AP/ Robert Bumsted)

At the UN General Assembly on January 21, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is currently "much more chaotic, much less predictable" than during the Cold War. There are signs that the strategic competition between world powers will heighten in 2022. Many new political hot spots have emerged in multiple regions, challenge efforts to promote world peace and prosperity.

A year of numerous difficulties and hot spots

Relations between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economic powers, have seen no easing of tensions so far this year. The two have imposed new flight restrictions, taken provocative actions related to the South China Sea (known as East Sea in Vietnam) and Chinese Taipei, and exchanged angry accusations about unfair trade practices, human rights violations, and cyberattacks.

Tensions have flared on the Korean peninsula over a series of missile tests.

Security concerns in Ukraine, Armenia, and Kazakhstan remain unresolved. Russia and the West have repeatedly warned each other and threatened dire consequences for unacceptable missteps.

Prolonged crises in Mali, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and South Sudan have not improved, and Burkina Faso has recently become yet another hot spot. Soldiers in Burkina Faso said Monday that they have detained the President and suspended the constitution.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage worldwide, hampering countries’ efforts to revive the economy. The World Health Organization’s Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that it’s dangerous to assume that the Omicron variant heralds the end of COVID-19’s most virulent phase. He told a WHO executive board meeting on Monday that we shouldn’t assume that Omicron will be the last variant or that we’re already in the end game. On the contrary, global conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge, he said.

Dialogue and cooperation for a better world

Analysts say the world needs to try harder in 2022 to create a peaceful environment in which recovery and economic development can take place. Dialogue and cooperation are the keys to resolving the current crisis.

The UN Secretary-General on January 21urged the US and China to hold trade and technology talks to avoid polarization in the global economy. He said countries “must go into emergency mode”, and now is the time to act because today’s response will determine global outcomes for decades to come.  Since the onset of the pandemic, the UN Chief has been calling for reform of the global financial system, action to address the climate crisis, putting people at the centre of the digital world, and striving for sustainable peace.

In a New Year’s Message for 2022 the UN Secretary-General called on the whole world to act with a renewed spirit of dialogue, compromise, and reconciliation for the sake of all human beings, the earth, and our future prosperity.