Fuel Protests Are Now Gripping More Than 90 Countries

BBC: Fuel protests gripping more than 90 countries 

High costs of living are driving people to protest in the streets against crippling prices. 

The BBC has mapped all reported demonstrations over fuel since January 2021, revealing a huge increase in protests this year.

Fuel costs affect many aspects of daily life - personal travel, transportation of goods, energy for electricity and heating. Around the world demonstrators have called for change. 

They've demanded that petrol be made more affordable or available at all. 

They've sat in peaceful protests and they've attacked governments. Some have paid an even higher price.  

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WNU Editor: And winter is still two months away.

New Report Says The World Is Facing An Unprecedented Rise In Civil Unrest

Russian police officers detain a protester during an unsanctioned rally, after opposition activists called for street protests against the mobilization of reservists ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, September 21. REUTERS 

Maplecroft: 101 countries witness rise in civil unrest in last quarter  

Worst yet to come as socioeconomic pressure builds 

The world is facing an unprecedented rise in civil unrest as governments of all stripes grapple with the impacts of inflation on the price of staple foods and energy, according to the latest edition of our Civil Unrest Index (CUI). The data, covering seven years, shows that the last quarter saw more countries witness an increase in risks from civil unrest than at any time since the Index was released. Out of 198 countries, 101 saw an increase in risk, compared with only 42 where the risk decreased. 

The impact is evident across the globe, with popular discontent over rising living costs emerging on the streets of developed and emerging markets alike, stretching from the EU, Sri Lanka and Peru to Kenya, Ecuador and Iran. 

As the conditions for civil unrest build in a growing number of countries, the severity and frequency of protests and labour activism is set to accelerate further over the coming months.  

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WNU Editor: I concur with the above report's conclusions. The worst is yet to come. 

A good website that track's global unrest is this one .... Global Protest Tracker (Carnegie Endowment)

40% Of The World’s Countries Will Witness Civil Unrest In 2020

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

CNBC: Almost 40% of the world’s countries will witness civil unrest in 2020, research claims

  * Nearly 40% of the world’s 195 countries will see civil unrest during 2020, according to Verisk Maplecroft.
  * Risk of backlash by security forces is deemed high in countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and China.
  * Corporations will be under increased pressure to avoid getting tangled up in this “new normal.”

Almost a quarter of the world’s countries witnessed a surge in protest and unrest last year and that figure is set to rise further in 2020, according to a new study.

There are 195 countries in the world, if the Vatican and Palestine are included, and a newly released index of civil unrest has claimed that 47 of those states witnessed a rise in civil unrest in 2019.

The data model, published Thursday by socio-economic and political analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, has also predicted that in 2020, the number will balloon to 75 countries.

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WNU Editor: 2019 was a turbulent year. 2020 is going to be worse.

The World’s Protesters Want To Soak the Rich

Bloomberg: The World’s Protesters Want to Soak the Rich, But That’s Not All

Sharp divisions between the rich and poor are fueling a global wave of unrest -- but that’s just one of the grievances driving people onto the streets, according to a leading scholar of economic inequality.

Latin America’s yawning wealth gap helps explain the protests that exploded in Chile last month, says Branko Milanovic, the former World Bank economist whose “elephant chart” -- named for the shape of its curve -- was celebrated for revealing the winners and losers from globalization.

But in the Middle East, the other region suffering widespread unrest and hardly any economic growth, he sees a different picture -- with anger directed at political systems that are shielding elites from any kind of change.

Protests have forced leaders in Lebanon and Algeria to resign, toppled the regime in Sudan and pushed Iraq’s government to the brink of collapse. “I don’t think we can put out a blanket story of inequality” to explain them all, says Milanovic, author most recently of “Capitalism, Alone” and a professor at the City University of New York.

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WNU Editor: I have recently gotten to know some people from Belgium. They are young, and they want to start their own company focused on search engine optimization. They are full of energy, and are happy to be in Montreal. But when I ask them how life is in Belgium, their response is truly eye-opening. They are frustrated, and feel that as entrepreneurs they are being deliberately blocked by government policies, regulations, and taxes. Add the high cost of living and the realization that buying your own home is impossible .... their anger is their. Hence that is the reason why they are here in Montreal, even though they miss their friends back home. Now that is Belgium .... a country that many see as a utopia, especially if you are from Africa or the Middle East. But that is the point. Every country is different. But there is one consistency that I have observed. Expectations among the young are sky-high in each and everyone of these countries, and governments are failing to satisfy their needs.

The Kids Are Angry

Anti-government demonstrators protest in Hong Kong. Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters

Simon Tisdall, The Guardian: About 41% of the global population are under 24. And they’re angry…

From Hong Kong to Chile, young people are rising up to fight injustice and inequality. Their elders should be grateful.

A spate of large-scale street protests around the world, from Chile and Hong Kong to Lebanon and Barcelona, is fuelling a search for common denominators and collective causes. Are we entering a new age of global revolution? Or is it foolish to try to link anger in India over the price of onions to pro-democracy demonstrations in Russia?

Each country’s protests differ in detail. But recent upheavals do appear to share one key factor: youth. In most cases, younger people are at the forefront of calls for change. The uprising that unexpectedly swept away Sudan’s ancien regime this year was essentially generational in nature.

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WNU Editor: Just imagine how this under 24 population will feel when they learn that they will have to pay off the global debt that we .... the older generation .... have built up over the decades. If they are mad now, they will be molten mad in a decade or two.

Protests Flare Around The World

A demonstrator rides a bicycle past an improvised bonfire during a protest against the increase in subway ticket prices in Santiago, October 19. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Reuters: Season of discontent: protests flare around the world

Another day, another protest.

On Monday it was Bolivia - angry people clashed with police after the political opposition said it had been cheated in an election won by incumbent President Evo Morales.

Last week, the streets of the Chilean capital Santiago descended into chaos, as demonstrators enraged by a hike in public transport fares looted stores, set a bus alight and prompted the president to declare a state of emergency.

Earlier this month, Ecuador’s leader did the same after violent unrest triggered by the decision to end fuel subsidies that had been in place for decades.

And that was just South America.

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WNU Editor: All these global protests have one thing in common. A distrust of government, elites, and a media narrative that people no longer believe in. And here is an easy prediction. It is going to get worse.

The World's Middle Class Is In Revolt

REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Middle-Class Rage Sparks Protest Movements In Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria And Beyond -- Washington Post

As protests raged in Turkey and were set to explode in distant Brazil, Asen Genov sat in his office in Bulgaria’s capital on the cloudy morning of June 14, about to strike the computer key that would spark a Bulgarian Spring.

Only months earlier, public outrage over high electricity bills in the country had brought down a previous government, but Genov saw more reason for anger when the new administration tapped a shadowy media mogul to head the national security service. Furious, Genov posted a Facebook event calling for a protest in Sofia, the nation’s capital, though he was dubious about turnout for a demonstration focused not on pocketbooks but on corruption and cronyism in government.

“We made bets on how many would come. I thought maybe 500,” said Genov, a 44-year-old who helps run a fact-checking Web site.

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My Comment: it is not only the middle class that is in revolt .... more to the point .... in places like Europe it is "angry young men" who are protesting and in some cases becoming violent.

Update: This is a must see .... 23 Iconic Pictures Of Global Unrest From The Last Three Years -- Business Insider

World Leaders Bracing For Discontent And Upheaval

Demonstrators in Morocco in May. (Magharebia/Flickr)

Across The World, Leaders Brace For Discontent And Upheaval -- New York Times

DAVOS, Switzerland — Protesters in Moscow and Cairo fill public squares to demand representative government. Yet on the streets of Madrid and New York — or of Athens, which gave us the very word for democracy — discontent is almost as rampant.

The only consistent messages seem to be that leaders around the world are failing to deliver on their citizens’ expectations and that Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools allow crowds to coalesce at will to let them know it. This is not a comforting picture for the 40 heads of state or leaders of governments who are attending the World Economic Forum here, including such disparate leaders as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany’s multiparty democracy or Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of the authoritarian state of Ethiopia.

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My Comment: I guess the world leaders are listening to this man (or vice versa).

As Economies Falter World Social Unrest Increases

World Faces Years Of Social Unrest As Economies Falter -- The Independent

The international economy is on the brink of a deep new economic crisis that could cost millions of jobs around the globe and trigger mass social unrest, the world's most powerful nations were warned yesterday.

As the leaders of the G20 countries prepare for emergency talks on averting a return to worldwide recession, the United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a grim forecast of the social effects of the continuing economic crisis.

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My Comment: Lack of jobs. High prices. Unable to meet one's needs. Yup .... a prescription for unrest.

Global Unrest Spreading As Economic Uncertainty Grows

Economic Uncertainty Leading To Global Unrest -- CNBC

London is reeling from three nights of rioting that's poured hundreds of people into the streets, leaving several local neighborhoods in shambles. One man is dead, dozens injured and arrested.

The protests have now spread to other cities, with violence reported in parts of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.

Great Britain and other parts of the world are experiencing unrest at a time of global economic uncertainty and stock market volatility.

Here's a look at what's happening around the world and how economic downturns are bringing protestors into the streets.

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My Comment: And this unrest is just starting. If I am to put on my prediction cap, 2012 will have even more unrest, especially as Europe's and (to a lesser extent) America's debt crisis worsens.