Opinion | Climate change, inequality and disruptive technology have brought toxic politics to a boil in 2019

As 2019 comes to a close, the world’s financial markets are hitting record highs, celebrating that Britain will finally see closure on Brexit through a thumping election victory for Boris Johnson and a US-China trade truce that seems to push more intractable problems to the future. The S&P 500 index is up more than 27 per cent in 2019, the strongest annual gain since 2013. 

A truce is not a treaty and Johnson’s victory is only the start of a long Brexit journey. But 2019 has indeed been an eventful and stressful year: it is set to be the second- hottest on record and has been marked by protests from Chile to Hong Kong. This was a year of intense politicking, but there are trends emerging.

The Conservative Party’s victory in Britain over Labour was a clear sign that leadership matters. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a weak 1970s-style socialist who had few new ideas to offer as an alternative to the clear choice of Brexit. Johnson, meanwhile, saw that people simply want an end to three years of confusion.

Similarly, even though US Democrats have impeached US President Donald Trump, there is no chance that the trial will pass through the Republican-controlled Senate. And, with 15 Democratic presidential candidates still in the field, the chances that Trump will be re-elected in 2020 look better than ever.

In Europe, much will depend on how the emerging leadership in the European Union tackles its many challenges. French President Emmanuel Macron offered a strong hint when he said Nato was experiencing “brain death”. With Britain leaving the EU, the key axis of European leadership is France and Germany.