The world is being driven to the brink by thugs and dictators, but there is a route to a brighter future | Simon Tisdall

It's no surprise some analysts say we are already in the midst of the third world war, but ordinary people have more power than we think

Don't look up! The world is a mess. The sky could fall in any day. Unending wars, expanding humanitarian crises, rising authoritarianism, dysfunctional democracies, rampant racial and religious extremism, and unchecked lawlessness cast a dark cloud as the west's new political year begins. Set all that against a backdrop of staggering global economic inequality, corporate and individual greed, irresponsible government indebtedness, dangerous AI gambles, climate breakdown and proliferating nuclear weapons, and a truly apocalyptic global outlook begins to take shape. It's enough to make anyone shut their eyes, cover their ears and utter a Munch-like scream. And it's only getting worse.

Democratic leaders who promise a better, safer, more optimistic future - what Britain's freshly arrived prime minister, Andy Burnham, calls a new era of possibility" - cannot escape this wider international context. Last week's global bond market upheaval, sparked by external factors, left Burnham's cash-strapped government struggling with sharply increased borrowing costs before he barely got started. The fact he chose Ukraine for his first overseas trip, while symbolically important, highlighted another grim reality. As a lead opponent of Vladimir Putin's invasion, Britain now finds itself in a de facto state of war with Russia - and facing attack. Argentina, too, is eyeing UK defence vulnerabilities. These are not the sort of possibilities Burnham envisaged.