25 years ago, the world was worried about the bug of the century. The computer bug ultimately did not occur on the 1stis January 2000, to the great relief of the 200 Bercy civil servants mobilized for the New Year. On December 31, 1999, water consumption increased by 20% in Frankfurt, with residents filling entire bathtubs fearing a water shortage, again due to this bug that ultimately only existed in people’s minds. more alarmist.
A quarter of a century ago, the world celebrated the year 2000 as much of Europe healed from two terrible storms. Like the irrational fears thriving on social networks in their infancy 25 years ago and now omnipresent, extreme weather phenomena do not date from the 21st century.e century. Their causes are known and, yet, global warming is a fight that the planet is losing.
In this 1is January 2025, it is both exciting and despairing to look in the rearview mirror. 25 years ago, Pope John Paul II wished for a serene, happy and peaceful year. Pope Francis will be able, this Wednesday, to repeat his calls for peace from previous years, for the Middle East as well as for Ukraine. On December 31, 1999, Vladimir Putin woke up among Russian troops. The front then was Chechnya. A few hours earlier, the Russian Prime Minister became interim president, following the surprise resignation of Boris Yeltsin. “What you are doing is necessary for the country. It is about recovering honor and dignity and putting an end to Russia’s collapse,” Putin declared to Russian soldiers engaged in the Caucasus. The martial speech of the master of the Kremlin has been the same for 25 years. Chechnya yesterday, Ukraine today… Everything changes and nothing changes.
It is definitely very difficult to make the world evolve in the direction of peace and sharing. However, this should not deprive us of good resolutions. Because humanity is nothing without the hope of a better world.
News-Swiss
