In an interview with Global Times (GT) on 12/31/22, as part of their series, “Looking for an Anchor of Stability in 2023,” former Egyptian Foreign Minister and visiting senior fellow at the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University, Nabil Fahmy, described the “situation in Ukraine” as “the black swan event of the past year because it brought back military confrontation to the European theater and revived the Cold War at the same time. For me it was the symptom of a disoriented, almost dysfunctional world order which continued to be based on post-WWII concepts of the balance of power and spheres of influence.”
On the dangers of 2023, he referred to “the use of weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, or the substantial targeting of Russian facilities within Russia’s traditional borders. These could trigger a chain reaction of escalation that could easily spiral out of control.”
Of note, he then offered a second 2023 “flash point,” the “egregious measures toward the Palestinians and the Sacred Haram al Sharif (also known as the Temple Mount) by the new right-wing Israeli government. These measures could easily provoke another intifada in addition to very high tension and confrontation with its neighbors.”