Look before you leap, or Do It And Be Damned..?

Wherever one looks there appears to be evidence to support the notion. The Putin invasion of Ukraine is perhaps the costliest example of it, being vocally justified by the Russian leader as his heroic response to defend Mother Russia from an apparent tidal wave of rampant Nazism sweeping a former part of the USSR. The zeal with which Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing his aim to obliterate Hamas could be construed perhaps as a near – if not an outright – attempt at a Palestinian genocide and has been described as such, to the point where even indigenous Israelis are questioning not only their leader’s actions but his motives too. Is Bibi really that threatened by Palestine, or is he more focused on his own political survival through promulgating an agenda where the Israeli Defence Force is attacking Hamas officials not only in Iran but now Qatar too? The attack earlier this week apparently caught even Donald Trump off guard, the White House saying that the attack on Doha didn’t advance Israel’s goals, but that there wasn’t time enough for Washington to warn the Qataris beforehand. Was this not an act of war for which there will be a reaction? How many other countries is Israel prepared to attack in what it calls its self-defence?

Other nations are now seeing similar acts of violence and confrontation being perpetrated. The level of unrest in Nepal over recent days has led not only to the resignation of its Prime Minister over anti-corruption protests, but the setting on fire of the country’s parliament building. The global 24/7 news cycle and freedom to post anything, anywhere, anytime may have fuelled social unrest through social media – but is it wrong to censor free speech? At least some of the rioting in Kathmandu appears to have been triggered by a state crackdown on social media – but how are we to tell truth from falsehood – and particularly falsehood achieved from behind the veil of online anonymity? Or from the creations of AI?

It's not just internationally, either. Here in the UK, we’ve seen an outcry within the last week about the alleged activities of the MP and now former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over the underpayment of stamp duty relating to a property transaction. The story and its elements – however true or otherwise – have prompted the kind of frenzied calling out of Ms Rayner that could have been fully expected from all corners of the House of Commons, where privilege opens the floodgates of what might have otherwise been more measured. Scandals are nothing new to the Palace of Westminster and have been part of the cut and thrust of the place since it was first established. But what of the effect on the rest of us outside the Chamber? ‘What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’ might apply inside that privileged place – but when there is so much information – and misinformation – swirling about, it is hard to sift noise from truth. A kind of vigilantism is emerging again with assaults on the individual being carried out as a kind of reprisal for simply being here – or being in the way.

Is it all just part of the human condition though? Watch the BBC’s epic drama ‘King and Conqueror’ and you might be forgiven for thinking that what we’re seeing now is merely a repeat (albeit a substantially less violent repeat) of the days of William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson. Then, battles were bloody, explosive and often merciless – has anything beyond the technology and mechanisms of confrontation changed? Has humanity learned nothing? Is it all about a few powerful people wielding power in a quest for self-enrichment and with scant regard for bystanders? Perhaps that’s all it is and at whatever level of power.

Next week when here for his second state visit, I wonder what Donald J Trump will learn from King Charles III about restraint, balance and diplomacy. If he truly is the most powerful man on the planet, I hope it’s a lot, because it needs to be. For all our sakes.