Negative political behaviour can lead to unpleasant happenings

All types of candidates for the various positions of governance have been cleared to run in the August 8 General Election.

For the next two months, we can expect several things.

One, there is going to be a lot of noise. Two, we will hear a lot of lies and propaganda.

Then we will see a lot of pomp, bravado and show of might through conspicuous consumption.

G7 SUMMIT

These are going to be two months of intense activity around the whole country.

While we are going through all this, the rest of the world is also going through their motions.

I will have to consult my colleagues in political science and international affairs but I get the impression that the geopolitics of the world is at a crossroads.

After the end of the G7 summit in Italy last weekend, the German Chancellor announced that Europe can no longer look up to America and must rely on their own.

CLIMATE CHANGE
A few days after the summit, US President Donald Trump announced that he will be withdrawing America from the Paris agreement on climate change that was signed in 2015.

In the same breath, he said that they will begin fresh negotiations that will be favourable to America.

There was immediate reaction not just from European leaders such as the French President but also from within America.

States such as California stated categorically that, as a state, they will stick to the global pact on climate change as agreed in Paris.

WAR IN SYRIA
As all this goes on, there are other dynamics such as the alleged involvement of Russia in elections of other countries.

Whatever the level of such involvement, it is an issue that revives a bad taste of the Cold War days.

There is also the matter of the fighting in Syria and the immigration it has occasioned.

The involvement of the East and the West on opposite sides in this crisis is a matter of serious concern.

The Syrian situation may sound like an isolated case but the world is not going to just watch and wait.

TERRORIST ATTACKS

The existence and activities of terror groups like ISIS and others is another headache in the process of sustaining global sanity.

Our own environment has for the last several years been destabilised by activities of Al-Shabaab.

Even as we do our politics, we must remain aware of the fact that all these things that are taking place globally are not that far removed from us.

Climate change affects everyone. Terror activities are not restricted to just one region.

Negative political behaviour can provide an entry point to such activities.

Writer is Dean of Students at the University of Nairobi [email protected]