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Opinion columnist
Just ask Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, says Andrew McDougall.
Published on June 13, 2024 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 3 min read
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau left Ottawa on Wednesday to travel to Italy for the G7 summit, drawing criticism from several Western leaders. Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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Politics in general does not lend itself to universal explanations, but current events around the world suggest that incumbents are losing.
Just ask Justin Trudeau, beset by foreign interference, housing and tax issues. US President Joe Biden rubs shoulders with convicted felons while presiding over an economic growth the American people do not feel or believe in. France's Emmanuel Macron has just been thrashed by Marine Le Pen's party in the European Parliament elections. And what about UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative Party is trying to replace Kim Campbell as the global byword for political desolation?
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Why can't incumbents, of all stripes, get their act together?
One explanation is that nation states are succumbing to global forces. There is only so much one government can do to solve global financial, migration, or infectious viral problems. The recent COVID pandemic has added further misery to an already slow economic recovery from the global financial crisis of the past decade. It has become too much for any government to handle.
Another common feature of the current global instability is record migration to Western countries, where migrants continue to voice their support, whether they are fleeing war or climate destruction, or simply seeking a better life.
Given low birth rates, this influx could be a boon for Western countries if managed well. But we're not managing it well. We've been slow to spot the trends and act on them — in housing, transport, hospitals, schools — and people are angry.
These problems may not have started under this administration, but it is responsible, and the price will not be easy to pay, especially if we don't fix the world's water pipes first.
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Where to start?
We brought China into the global “rules-based” order, only to watch China bend most of those rules. We printed money to get out of the GFC, privileged asset holders, created finances too big to fail, and exacerbated inequality. We eviscerated domestic manufacturing, stretched supply chains, originated in autocracies like China, passed through chaotic pinch points like the Red Sea, and collapsed and stoked inflation in response to events like COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All of this needs to be sorted out, not through cheap populist rhetoric, but through calm engagement in international forums.
But few problems can be solved without rational, fact-based debate about the issues. Without quality information and a common forum to discuss the issues, we will continue to shout at each other to satisfy the algorithms that determine the “success” of messages in the digital age.
Western principles like freedom of speech worked well when information flowed at the speed of donkeys and carts on rutted dirt roads. They worked well when a small number of mostly credentialed individuals had access to local, regional and national microphones. But in a world where anyone can have an opinion and that opinion can be broadcast instantly around the world, Western principles can no longer keep up. And that's before AI makes things nuclear.
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Our governance over information and media has not kept up. Alarmingly, current reform efforts are making the situation worse, not better. We need solutions. We can’t continue like this. To give just one example, it’s no coincidence that much of the foreign interference that takes place in Canada is happening on tech platforms like X/Twitter, Facebook, and WeChat. Forget the back door; we’re leaving the front door open to our enemies.
These platforms prioritize the requests and messages of Western opposition parties whose main task is to criticize the status quo and stoke discontent. But they are useless when it comes to actually solving problems or communicating solutions to problems. More importantly, the situation will not improve just because a new person takes over as chairman.
Buyer responsibility borne.
Andrew McDougall is a London-based communications consultant and former communications director to former prime minister Stephen Harper.
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