2023 was marked by the worst of international politics. Conflict, famine and refugee flows were all at record highs. Those trends will continue into 2024. But it is notable that 2024 also offers a litmus test for gauging how populations around the world are responding to those crises: A record number of global elections.
In the final weeks of 2023, three Scandinavian countries signed defense agreements with Washington, further strengthening U.S. military ties with a region of the world that has long favored nonalignment. The deals are proof of just how deeply Russia’s war against Ukraine has transformed the strategic landscape across Europe.
At the height of enthusiasm for globalization, many policymakers convinced themselves that the benefits of a more connected world would encourage potential spoilers to accept a stable international order. The same complacency was visible in the recent shock over attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement on merchant shipping in the Red Sea.
As 2023 drew to a close, it was easy to feel like the world was trending in the wrong direction. Nonetheless, behind the many “bad news” headlines from last year are a number of other “good news” stories that didn’t get as much press coverage. To usher in 2024, here are some reasons for hope in the New Year ahead.
Of Latin America’s six presidential elections scheduled for 2024, the incumbent party is currently favored in four. Rather than a clear break in the region’s anti-incumbent trend, however, this year’s elections will be exceptions that prove the rule. Three of them offer examples of the challenges that democracy faces in the hemisphere.