WITH luck, we may still be able to avoid a global armed clash between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia, between the US and China — thanks to the reported recent 'thaw in the new cold war' between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (Financial Times, Nov. 27, 2023).

But can we avoid the internal political clashes that seem to be fast shaping up in our country before the 2028 presidential elections? And can the Marcos Jr. government divert our people's attention from our internal conflicts to the more urgent issues concerning peace and progress in our region and the world?