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Lise Hand: With continuous volatility on the global political stage, where are we headed in 2023?

Amid the prospect of a 21st-century cold war, and a climate emergency, things have never felt more uncertain. But what do we know about what’s coming this year?

A poster and toilet paper with the likeness of Russian president Vladimir Putin on the wall at a facility in Sloviansk, Ukraine that distributes donated items for Ukrainian soldiers: for 2023, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will continue to dominate global politics. Picture: Getty

The story goes that when asked what was the greatest challenge faced by political leaders, the famously unflappable British prime minister Harold Macmillan replied, “Events, dear boy, events.”

Like many a famous quote, it is most likely apocryphal – nobody is quite sure as to whom it may have been addressed, or which event he was referencing. Nonetheless, there probably isn’t a head of government who wouldn’t wholeheartedly agree with its wry sentiment. Given a ...