2022- the year that took us back to History
Abhishek Kadiyala
When the year 2021 came to an end, there was a strong universal belief that the perspectives and the priorities of the world have changed forever. The COVID pandemic forced us to work together as humans, technology had found a new space in improving human work life balance. Decades old powers such as the US were finally moving on from the mistakes of the past, such as the Afghan intervention.
In hindsight, the year 2022 began with a lot of hope as things normalized post pandemic, the vaccines were administered at a rapid rate, and the world found a new normal after two years of distress and horror.
However, the year 2022 would be instrumental in disproving many assumptions that have existed in the understanding of human logic, psychology and politics. By the year’s end, a major European nation will be invaded by a nuclear superpower. Major regional powers in South Asia would go bankrupt. Two major Asia nuclear powers would go head to head in frequent military confrontations, and a now, US-free Middle East would be seen entering an era of cold war and the resulting internal disturbances.
These are once again, traditional strategic changes. In the realm of new and non-traditional threats, Climate would increasingly become a subject of controversy, more so as more and more countries quarrel over responsibilities and strategies. Emerging and Disruptive technologies would increasingly become a major factor in not only politics and the military, but also in day to day life of humans. For those of us who are studying history today, the year 1939 and 1951 are the major turning points in modern history marking the beginning of the Second World War and the Cold War respectively. Some five decades later, when newer generations would look back at our time, 2022 would be one such year when the world entered its first phase of chaos in the 21st century. So, when we were tasked with selecting a theme for our course’s Capstone Project, we selected the theme of reflecting on the year 2022. The importance of this year in the realm of International Relations, Geopolitics and Politics at large is undeniable, and this book, filled with several chapters focused on three important occurrences of this year, stands as a testimony for the same.
