The world is at the edge. Can we pull back?

A survey has found that a majority people in poor countries consider themselves to be 'global citizens' while most people in richer countries do not. Which is not surprising. After all, wouldn't 73% from Nigeria, 70% from Peru and 67% from India love to settle in the west with 24 hour electricity and water supplies, clean surroundings, unbroken roads, and strictly applied laws, where politicians cannot get away with plunder of the exchequer? And it is not surprising either that they do not want us. When people read of a couple with 9 children asking for free IVF treatment for having more babies they must be getting disgusted. What is surprising is that, with its economy in recession, with no prospect of improvement in the near future, a large majority of Russians do not see themselves as 'global citizens', which means they are proud to be Russian. Exactly opposite, 71% of Chinese consider themselves as global. Well-to-do Chinese women are travelling to the US to give birth so that their babies will get automatic US citizenship and will be able to sponsor their parents to the US when they grow up. We do not know whether the government is covertly encouraging these women. The sole purpose of Unit 61398 of the Peoples Liberation Army is to hack into US companies to steal industrial secrets and US citizens of Chinese origin regularly spy for the mainland. Germans are dubious about accepting more Syrian refugees and also about inter-racial marriage. So is Europe lurching to the far right? Right-wing parties are gaining strength right across Europe, 29% in Switzerland, 18% in Finland, 13% in Sweden, 21% in Austria and 14% in France. These numbers may seem small but could change fast. The Cosa Nostra has declared war on migrants in Sicily with the Mayor of Palermo saying," Palermo is a Middle Eastern town in Europe." Curiously, although the French people seem to be more tolerant of immigrants the government is very anti-Semitic. After the Charlie Hebdo attack an Israeli company offered a software capable of detecting terrorists from the mass of data received by intelligence agencies but the French government refused. The technology may have prevented the Paris attacks in November last year. In a brazen criminal act, reminiscent of the 'extraordinary renditions' by the US, following 9/11 attacks, China has abducted 45 Taiwanese citizens, accused of a telecom scam, from Kenya. Doubts are being raised about the shooting down of MH17, following which sanctions were imposed on Russia which crippled its economy. Russia is entitled to feel aggrieved. The Kurdish PKK has warned Turkey to expect a long fight for freedom. Who will the US support? NATO member Turkey, or the Kurds, the only forces fighting ISIS on the ground? Whether there will be an economic apocalypse remains to be seen, but the signs are ominous. We are at the edge. Will we tip over?