Amid the global outrage over events in Washington on Jan. 6, it is important to understand that there was a growing malaise at the heart of many Western democracies long before an angry mob stormed the US Capitol building, and that their discontent has deep roots.

While the world is preoccupied with outrageous scenes in the US Capitol and the economic consequences of new lockdowns to curb the spread of virulent new variants of the coronavirus, unspeakable human suffering on the fringes of Europe has gone largely unnoticed.

Most people in the oil industry will want to forget 2020. The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns brought the global economy to a standstill. In April, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) briefly turned negative.

Most British people would like to see their country as Cool Britannia, as it was portrayed in the late 1990s, or the “land of hope and glory,” Arthur Benson’s patriotic ode set to the rousing music of Edward Elgar. Currently it is neither.

The airline industry, which had been badly battered by the pandemic, just about saw light at the end of the tunnel courtesy of vaccine approvals and the rollout of vaccination programs in several major economies. But once again the virus proved that it had a mind of its own.