Of course, with the election of President Trump in America things might or might not change in the next month. We still have no idea how that will go but the prospect is not particularly optimistic. Trump is not a man with any great vision for a better world. What he wants, it seems, is a continuation of all that is wrong at present for as long as possible. Our own government seems little better, wedded to unsustainable economic models which have served humanity well for thousands of years but look decidedly dated with our current population. Unsustainable ideas which once worked well will not work for ever. That’s what unsustainable means.

These pages remain in their temporary yellow and blue colour scheme adopted to show solidarity with a nation unjustly invaded by a powerful neighbour which had promised to protect its territorial integrity and broke that promise when it became clear it couldn’t control it. Such do the promises of the powerful mean in an unjust world. What of our own promises? Do they mean more? Possibly, judging by the fact we have provided Ukraine with little more than verbal support and a few token weapons which allow them to prolong the war but not to win, not as much as we’d like to think. Of course, they are not a NATO member, so we can’t bail them out without devaluing membership, but still we could do more if we had more imagination, and failing to put Putin in his place early on has given him grounds to suppose he can do what he likes. It is as if the 1930s never happened. We have already seen what happens when a bullying dictator is appeased. Why would we do the same again?

Then there is the appalling suffering in the Middle East; another place where human misery has reached new depths. The HAMAS attack in 2022 looked awful, was awful, but the Israeli response, whilst predictable, looked disproportionate from the beginning. Neither Israel nor its principle supporter, the USA, has any sense of subtlety when dealing with a complex and ongoing threat. The idea they can retaliate with fists swinging as the answer to any insult shows a complete failure to understand the nature of real life. Are they living in the simplistic world of the western? They seem to think so, but the real world is not so straightforward and all they achieve is to provoke more hatred. You can’t make friends through brutality. Life isn’t like that. The only way to rid oneself of enemies is to make friends, and that is hard work. A violent reaction just won’t do it.

The other great source of human suffering is the almost unreported civil war in Sudan. Sudan being of little strategic importance to the West, its troubles are largely ignored by our news media. Still, the misery of its people continues and they shouldn’t be forgotten. What I have heard suggests their suffering is as great as any others’.

So, that is the state of the world at the end of 2024, much as at the beginning. How depressing to see such little progress. Will we see more next year? I hope so, though I also dread what it might be. Progress is not necessarily in a good direction. We shall see.