From bustling megacities to shifting geopolitical alliances, 2023 made one thing clear: the world isn’t just talking about multipolarity—it’s living it. 🌐✈️ CGTN commentator Bradley Blankenship shares his globe-trotting insights on why this year reshaped our collective future.
EU’s Crossroads: Austerity Meets Discontent
Europe’s postcard-perfect social model? 📉 Inflation, rising retirement ages, and energy crises fueled by the Ukraine conflict have left the bloc scrambling. ‘The EU’s old economic playbook is crumbling,’ Blankenship notes, ‘and nobody’s found the new rulebook.’
China’s Contrast: Bustling Cities, Bold Progress
Step into Shanghai or Shenzhen, and you’ll feel the future—vibrant, tech-driven, and poverty-free. 🚀 ‘The stories I heard growing up in the U.S. about China? Either outdated or exaggerated,’ says Blankenship, highlighting Beijing’s poverty eradication wins.
Global Shifts: BRICS, Sahel, and Beyond
From anti-Western revolutions in Africa’s Sahel to BRICS expansion, 2023 saw nations rewriting the ‘rules’ of global influence. 🛡️ Meanwhile, the U.S. grapples with cultural polarization while South America leans into progressive reforms.
‘This isn’t about replacing one hegemony with another,’ Blankenship concludes. ‘It’s about a world where multiple stories coexist—and that’s already our reality.’ 🌏💡
