The world is facing a set of acute crises without recent parallel: a war in Europe that could escalate into a nuclear conflict, skyrocketing food prices that are hitting the poor the hardest, the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate emergency. We need principled statesmen and women to forge bold, morally consistent responses to these and other global problems. Sadly, such leaders are in short supply.
Many politicians prefer to advocate polarising policies, avoid hard choices, and deny the scale of the threats at hand. Others have tried to address these issues honestly. But those who favour cooperation and solidarity in dealing with global threats are on the defensive, as last year's underwhelming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and grossly unequal global access to Covid-19 vaccines clearly illustrate.
