Advertisement

Opinion | West must bridge its internal divides or risk becoming irrelevant

  • Regardless of external challenges like China, the future of the West is imperilled by decaying political institutions and stagnant economic growth
  • Once havens for freethinking and the exchange of ideas, Western universities have succumbed to extremist viewpoints and an absence of debate

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
14
Police arrest more than 100 students who were demonstrating against Israel’s attacks on Gaza at New York University on April 22. Universities are increasingly characterised by a refusal to consider divergent viewpoints on major issues. Photo: Anadolu via Getty Images
The West has rightly been focused on the political, economic and security-related issues posed by China. Other rising nations, such as India, are destined to become similar challenges for the West.
Advertisement

In assessing the status quo, the chances of the West maintaining its role in the world, regardless of the challenges posed by external factors, do not look bright. This is not because the West will struggle to compete with China and other rising actors in terms of economic, military or soft power, but due to its failure to tackle internal political, cultural and generational struggles.

The primary case study for this is the United States. Its political system is essentially broken. An unprecedented degree of tribalism has paralysed the legislative branch, Congress, on too many occasions. The Supreme Court’s approval rating continues to slump. According to a recent FiveThirtyEight poll, only 34.9 per cent of Americans approve of the nation’s highest court, suggesting an overall loss of trust in the court system.

The executive branch is facing its biggest challenge yet, with the coming presidential elections in November and a potential return of insurrectionist Donald Trump. Above all, the country is arguably the most divided it has been since the civil war. In a nation where too many people carry machine guns with pride, maintaining the peace in an already very volatile situation becomes even more challenging.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom continues to deal with the Brexit fallout. The economy is still nowhere near where it was before Brexit, although the latest figures suggest an end to the technical recession the country has been facing. Westminster has been preoccupied with its own problems.
Advertisement
Over the past eight years, the UK has had five prime ministers. A sixth one is highly likely this year as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seems destined to lose his premiership in a general election, with the Conservative Party’s prospects looking grim in opinion polls. Whether a Labour government can produce much-needed stability is also in doubt.
Advertisement