Staying true to his trademark journalistic approach, Andrés Oppenheimer takes his readers on yet another journey, this time across the globe, in a thought-provoking search to understand what the future holds for today’s jobs in the foreseeable age of automation.
This may be wishful thinking, but international outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine gives me a glimmer of hope that democracy may make a comeback in the world after almost two decades of steady decline. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s totally unjustified invasion of a sovereign and democratic neighbor may have acted as a wake-up call for countries — and people — around the world to defend their fundamental freedoms.
Granted, it’s far from sure that the outrage against Putin will last, and that it won’t fade from the news, like so many other armed aggressions by authoritarian rulers before.
But there are some powerful reasons to be cautiously hopeful. Before Russia’s attack, it would have been hard to believe that the U.N. General Assembly, which usually turns a blind eye to authoritarian regimes’ atrocities, would overwhelmingly approve a resolution deploring Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine,” and demanding that Moscow withdraw its military forces.
But the March 2 U.N. resolution was approved by 141 countries, with 35 abstentions and only four nations siding with Russia. While it is non-binding, it was the first time in recent memory that so many countries openly condemned a dictatorship for attacking another country.
