Have you noticed how international news is increasingly at the center of our attention?
Some will say that I preach for my parish. The fact remains that international events occupy an increasingly important place in our lives.
For a long time, Quebecers seemed less interested in international politics than most other peoples in the world.
But Quebecers are traveling more and more. They meet more and more other Quebecers whose families come from all over the world. Young people in particular are fond of international politics.
So unlike many years ago, entering university in an international relations degree program now requires a high R-score, such is the demand.
The war in Ukraine is typical of the new place occupied by international politics in the concerns of Quebecers. This war is not far away. The nuclear threat helps to understand that its consequences are close to us. Social networks make it immediate.
Climate change and fundamentalism
The same could be said about climate change or the rise of Islamism.
Whether China is opening new coal-fired power plants is not a vague Chinese question. This is a problem that will have major impacts on our daily lives.
That religious fundamentalists, both in the United States with abortion, or elsewhere, with sharia among others, attempt to establish religious terror can shake the foundations of our own rights and freedoms.
Inflation and pandemic
Political issues that were once local or national can easily turn into global issues. Conversely, problems that were once distant now affect us very quickly, with sometimes powerful effects.
Take the example of galloping inflation that is rampant everywhere. The softness of central bank interventions can certainly explain part of it. But the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and China’s economic policies certainly explain an even bigger part of it.
Similarly, the COVID19 pandemic is affected by the vaccination rates of various populations around the world. Vaccination and containment policies thus become everyone’s business.
When Chinese leaders err on their COVID-19 measures, or lie, like at the start of the pandemic, they put all humans at risk. There is no longer any domestic Chinese politics, which foreigners should supposedly refrain from commenting on.
Many politicians misunderstand the increasingly international nature of politics. However, everything suggests that we have entered a new political era marked by the internationalization of problems.
Politicians here would do well to think about it. Quebec and Canadian voters are ahead of many of them in this area.
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