Another year, another balancing act

A few days ago, in 2024, I watched a young woman in Damascus trying to balance her hopes and fears for a new Syria. She was strong, determined, and articulate about what she saw as the possibilities and pitfalls for her country as it treads carefully into a new and more promising future. 

I saw her excitement, and felt her trepidation, almost viscerally, as it reminded me of pictures and footage from those heady days in 1979 during the Islamic revolution in Iran, after the Shah had fled the country, and Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile in Paris. When asked what he felt upon setting foot on Iranian soil, the Ayatollah famously stated: ‘Nothing’. Perhaps that should have been a warning.

After a few jubilant days, the regime clamped down on women, and the iron fist has remained clinched ever since. Hopefully, Syrian women will be spared what has befallen their Iranian, not to mention Afghani sisters, and the world will not stand by in silence should the ugly face of oppression show itself among the new leaders in Damascus.

The fireworks are over, a new year is slowly taking hold, and there is much work to be done. Washington will see a new sheriff (and his posse) ride into town later this month, and what that will mean for the world, no one truly knows. 

One thing, however, is certain. Trump’s is not a regime interested in strengthening democratic values, or upholding the rights of the vulnerable, at home or elsewhere. Afraid of being caught in the crosshairs, one by one, corporations and their leaders are falling in line, choosing to placate rather than provoke; retire rather than rise up. This is, perhaps, not surprising, but it is certainly disappointing. 

How long until this lack of morality and abundance of self interest turns into a free for all of infighting, backstabbing and utter chaos. Probably not long, and in the meantime, those who did not vote for Trump and those who saw him as their savior, will look on in dismay. The question is, will their disappointment be strong enough to unite them in what used to be the base of the Democratic Party?

Europe, meanwhile, could benefit from spending less time trying to position itself in relation to the United States, and more time fixing its own problems, strengthening its own shaky democracies, and making most of its untapped potential. With Russia on our border, and Putin in the driver’s seat, we must rethink and re-evaluate, but we must do so without the doom and gloom that drives people into rabbit holes of fearful self sufficiency. Focus must be on opportunity, not abandon. 

So, as we, once again, cross the threshold of a new year, we too carry with us our hopes and fears in a balancing act that with a little luck and a lot of focus will keep us securely walking the tightrope. For while our fears are based on the unknown, our hopes must stay securely pinned to the well-known; that most people, by far, are good, and that our shared humanity has carried us thus far, and is more than capable of taking us beyond whatever may come. 

Happy New Year!
Isabella and your friendly Books & Company team