BREXIT chaos in Britain, with a Prime Minister showing a certain resilience but little else, amid concerns that her approach to immigration will cost us dearly in the years ahead; in America, a president addicted to disorder and belligerence, and whose tariff wars could yet prove harmful to global prosperity; in general, a conviction that much of the world still isn’t taking climate change with the gravity and urgency it demands.
The problems that became more evident, or which came to the fore, in the year that expires tonight do not, of course, quite end there. How can the west realistically counter Vladimir Putin’s continuing aggression? As James Mattis reminded us as he resigned as President Trump’s defence secretary, it is clear that China and Russia “want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model.” General Mattis also made a valuable point about the way that Trump treats America’s allies: the US, he said, cannot protect its interests or serve its role as “the indispensable nation in the free world ... without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.” Is Mr Trump listening? If he is, he is hiding it exceptionally well.
It is difficult to quell the fear that his base-pleasing decision to withdraw all US troops from Syria will not only abandon pro-western Kurdish forces in that troubled country but will also give an unfortunate boost to jihadists. His move has pleased Putin, as well as Hezbollah and the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but it may come at a cost for the west.
Mr Trump’s unpredictable, shoot-from-the-hip style has also caused jitters amongst investors.
There was, of course, much good news this year, but it seemed all too fleeting in the light of the gloom, adversity and uncertainty that crowded in on us. The issues mentioned above, and others as yet unforeseen, will shape 2019 for better or worse. But let’s take a breather from them while we can. A Happy New Year to all our readers.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel