What Was the Biggest Global Story of 2018?
What was the top global news story of 2018?
Faculty at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University weighed in with their thoughts, discussing a range of trends from the continuing global failure to address climate change, the election of far-right populist leaders across the globe and a degrading liberal world order.
All through the month of December we asked Pardee School professors what they thought were the most important global news stories of 2018, and have been posting their views on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the hashtag #2018inReview. This follows our survey of Pardee School faculty on the same question in 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Pardee School Dean Adil Najam, Adela Pineda, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the Pardee School, and Amb. Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice at the Pardee School, all highlighted the rise of populist leaders across the globe as a major global trend of 2018.
“Over half the world’s people, two-thirds the economy, and three-fourths the military is now led by ‘Strongmen’,” Najam said, summing up the trend. “Leaders who believe strength must be demonstrated and cooperation is weakness. Fasten your seatbelts.”
Pineda focused on the October 2018 elections in Brazil where Rio de Janeiro Congressman Jair Bolsonaro, a member of the right-wing conservative political party Partido Social Liberal (PSL). Since Bolsonaro’s entrance into the party, the PSL has changed much of its ideologies, abandoning its former socially liberal policies and keeping its economic liberal policies while at the same time adopting socially conservative policies.
Continuing with the trend of the rise of populist leaders in 2018, Professor Vivien Schmidt said that the failure to address the sources of people’s discontent are addressed populism will continue rise across the globe.
Reflecting on 2018, Pardee School Assistant Professor of International Relations Jayita Sarkar said “fascism is now officially a spectrum as more countries elect different flavors of the far-right.”
Pardee School Director of Graduate Studies Amb. Robert Loftis, Professor Joseph Wippl and Senior Lecturer Amb. Paul Webster Hare focused on the growing isolation of the United States through the neglect of international agreements and alienation of American allies. Continuing with the trend of shifts in the global order, Professor Joshua Shifrinson said the biggest global news story of 2018 was “the explicit acknowledgement across a range of analysts that great power competition is back.”
Other trends that shaped 2018 and are likely to shape 2019 were also mentioned by our faculty. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Professor William Grimes focused on the weakening of the global trading system at the hands of the United States and China. Professor Houchang E. Chehabi said he felt the failure of global leaders to address climate change was the biggest story of 2018. Professor Jeremy Menchik said he felt that 2018 was “the year we learned that social media is dangerous.” Professor Robert Hefner said the murder of the Saudi and U.S.-based journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, and the threat to a free press around the world was the top global story of 2018. According to GDP Center Director Kevin Gallagher, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s comments portraying China as an adversary was the biggest story of 2018.
Pardee School professors will be following, commenting on, writing about and researching these topics in 2019 as diligently as they did over the past year. Follow us on Twitter @BUPardeeSchool to keep up with their accomplishments.
On behalf of all our faculty, we wish the world a happy, a prosperous, and peaceful new year.