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The arguably most controversial sports event of this year is only a few days away: the 2022 football world cup will kick off on Sunday, the 20th of November in the Qatari city of al-Chaur at a stadium that didn’t exist before 2015. As it became clear that none of the 32 football associations considered boycotting the event, the big question was passed on to the public: to watch or not to watch.
As Finland and Sweden announced their bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) ranks, Turkey has warned to veto the membership of the Scandinavian allies unless they meet some diplomatic preconditions first. This is nothing new for NATO as new countries being admitted depends on the approval of all of its existing members. In this situation, Turkey is putting its foot down against its allies as a bid to counter terrorism.
In Turkey's upcoming 2023 legislative election, the youth is seen as a key to salvation from an authoritarian regime and to promote democratization. The election is planned to take place exactly 10 years after the Gezi Park protests, which was the biggest reaction against the establishing authoritarian course. Last year, the role of youth was decisive in politics for election promises and the effects were felt in public discussions. Under worsening economic circumstances, President Erdogan's vote base consolidation is no longer easy.
The generation gap does in not going to close, according to the ruling coalition AKP-MHP’s future projection. This is also the most important indicator of the collapse of Erdoğan’s pious youth project that has been applied for many years. However, young people in Turkey struggle with severely restricted individual freedoms and harsh economic conditions.
The growing rivalry between global superpowers, the US and China, continues to make strategic geopolitical choices for states in the Indo-Pacific rather difficult. With the announcement of the European Union (EU’s) joint Indo-Pacific strategy in September last year, the trading bloc expresses a clear objective to reposition itself in the region. Whilst many remain sceptical of its capacity to play an active role in a multipolar system, some believe the EU could provide a promising balancing alternative for middle players in the Indo-Pacific. Arguments on either side vary depending on one’s conceptualisation of the international arena and the spheres of influence within.
As the pandemic of new coronavirus powerfully hit the EU countries, many governments took measures that usually are associated with non-democratic regimes, such as retail closures, curfews, and bans of mass meetings. This naturally resulted in a growing rift between those valuing individual responsibility and those supporting central regulation. The extremists seem to be the only ones to profit.
