The Keyword That Symbolizes the Changes in the Global Country This Year?

In a global context, what is a keyword that symbolizes the political, economic, and social changes that have occured  this year? Various incidents have occurred in  2023, including significant improvements in artificial intelligence (AI), the war between Ukraine and Russia, the continuity of COVID-19, and the release of the Fukushima discharge to the Pacific Ocean. Such events have led to a decline in interdependence between the countries. Especially, COVID-19 and the prevalence of war between countries triggered the paradigm shift in politics. According to the Hyundai Research Institute, the phenomena occurring in 2023 led to a trending issue in politics, which they call deglobalization. Deglobalization is the process of declining interdependence and integration between certain groups around the world, generally nation-states. Recently, this concept has been a trending idea used to reshape the world’s political, economic, and social views. This writing explores the reason for globalization and solutions to survive from this.   

Specifically about deglobalization, the global poly-crisis of Korea seems to be the main reason for the decline in the reliance between the countries. According to the Hankyoreh News, the global poly-crisis refers to a situation where several major crises occur simultaneously and affect each other. The problem is not simply that multiple crises are occurring at the same time; the crux is that these multiple crises are intertwined into one system, which can affect one another viciously.

Various problems, including infectious diseases, economic instability, war and geopolitical dynamics, energy crises, climate disasters, and social conflicts, are emerging simultaneously due to inequality, as some of those were mentioned before. However, it is complicated to solve all these problems due to the capabilities of the government and politics, differences in people’s perspectives, and complex conflicts integrated with these problems. 

In addition, due to COVID-19, the world trading route was limited, which isolated each country from one another. Starting from this, there are no countries where they want to get disadvantages from others. For example, there will be no country that wants to be engaged in other countries' wars. These factors, in particular, might have caused a decline in interconnection among the countries. However, as nations navigate the complexities of this shift, it is essential to seek a balanced approach that addresses the legitimate concerns driving deglobalization while preserving the benefits of international cooperation. Since all nations are interconnected, each country requires each other’s help to further develop and survive, maintaining balance and helping others. Most importantly, strengthening countries in a global context should be prioritized to help other countries.