Our anxious world: how did we get here?

‍Best & worst

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Before we look at these trends, let’s realise that we should ‘not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that
has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you’ (I Peter 4:12.)
Jesus warned us by parable that the ‘wheat and the tares’ will grow up together.

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News by its very nature focuses on the negative, so we should not lose sight of where God is also
at work in our world. It can be simultaneously ‘the best of times, the worst of times’. The Swedish
professor, Hans Rosling, constantly reminded us that this is the healthiest and wealthiest era ever!

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Look at the global progress women have made over the past one hundred years – perhaps more
than in any other stage of history: political rights, education, economic participation, legal rights,
bodily autonomy, health and life expectancy. The past century tells a story of breakthrough - and of
unfinished business.
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Converging trends

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Mark Sayers and Edwin Friedman write about being a ‘non-anxious presence’ in an ‘age of
upheaval’. Where does this disruption, distrust and rapid change come from? Here are six
converging and inter-related trends creating our volatile world.
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1. Geopolitical tensions: resurgent rival power politics and ‘might is right’ diplomacy erode the
values undergirding the multilateral institutions underpinning the relatively stable global order since
WW2.

2. Climate and environmental changes: threaten food security, migration patterns, resource
scarcity and new humanitarian crises.
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3. Technological acceleration: results in information overload, instant news and ‘fake’ news,
intensifying social polarisation and fear; job displacement and ethical dilemmas; economic and
social uncertainty; cyber attacks from state and non-state actors.
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4. Health crises and demographic shifts: pandemics and ageing populations have strained and will
strain healthcare systems and pensions, creating social tensions and instability.
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5. Economic instability and inequality: while trade and technology have expanded wealth, growing
economic inequality threatens social stability. Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and trade wars
under the US administration have led to economic volatility globally.
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6. Sociocultural polarisation: identity politics, nationalism, mistrust of institutions and elites, have all
led to fragmentation of society and lack of social cohesion

Behind these trends is a connected reality. We are facing what Os Guinness calls a ‘civilisational
moment’– when ‘a civilisation loses its decisive connection with the dynamic that inspired it’. This
will result in one of three options: renewal, replacement or decline.

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The West tried to replace the Christianity which shaped it with secularism, which has delivered
degrees of freedom and technological progress - but not meaning and morality. Secularism is
parasitical and cannot itself produce the values on which it is dependent. It has lived off the
memory of Christian values.

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Lack of shared narratives or transcendent purposes leaves societies vulnerable to anxiety,
cynicism and short-term thinking. This creates a vacuum which amplifies fear and social
fragmentation, promoting scapegoating (migrants, Jews, …).

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Today’s turbulent world is not just the result of economics, geopolitics or climate. Its roots are
moral, cultural and spiritual. Leadership grounded in moral clarity, purpose and presence is

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urgently needed in our time. Rembrandt’s question is: how will we respond?
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This is what we want to explore in Egypt.

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