The world has always been a potentially dangerous place. All ages have had their chaos, famine, war, natural disaster and general calamity, punctuating what was likely a very mundane existence. Such is our age, writ larger by a massive and seemingly unstoppable flow of information in all directions. Modern doom sayers are no different from their gloomy ancestors. They just have a lot more data to sift through.

But there is no doubt that things are messy. The dividend from the end of the Cold War has been spent or squandered. We have not established an effective means of dealing with the political questions arising from globalisation, climate change, religious and ethnic nationalism and so forth. Perhaps this is the period in which new coalitions will form, or new institutions will arise.

On an entirely different note, Xiaoyu has written to say that she has started her English study. To my astonishment, she has a class every day. I guess that she is really serious about it. I had no idea that it was going to be seven days a week. She is really a sweetheart.