From a geopolitical point of view, we are witnessing the end of the international order dominated by the West, as well as the entry into a fragmented, multipolar, and conflictual world where raw power, whether military or economic, prevails over the rules and international institutions that have applied since the end of World War II.
These transformations are reflected in an increase in tension hotspots, from the war in Ukraine to rivalries between the United States and China, as well as crises in the Middle East with strategic points like the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, which concentrate major energy and military issues.
We all studied history and geography in high school, but the world has changed so quickly that those who were trained in the 1980s or before have learned an international order that no longer exists.
From the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, then the September 11, 2001 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014 and 2022, geopolitical markers have shifted significantly.
It is complex and, to simplify even further, the comic strip “The War of Neighbors” (Dargaud, 2025) by Mikko uses the analogy of a building where all the countries of the world are located, with continents becoming floors and conflicts becoming neighbor disputes.
The new complexities of the world are explained as if the planet were an immense condominium where each country would be a unit and where the assembly of unit owners would become the United Nations Assembly.
The proposal may raise a smile, and humor is strong in the album — especially through clichés and stereotypes for which Canada is not spared — but it effectively simplifies contemporary international political issues.
Through the comic strip, diverse issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, tensions between India and Pakistan, the war waged by Russia in Ukraine, climate change, as well as the influence of social networks, mechanisms of the international economy, and cultural wars are addressed in a didactic and humorous manner.
The analogy of the building is very useful to simplify the world’s problems.
The planet’s environmental challenges thus become the management of waste, overheated apartments, and water damage in the building.
What is also interesting is that the album rightly highlights that today’s geopolitics cannot be understood without social networks, which have become true global media.
Social networks and their algorithms can lead to a globalization of populism and the far-right.
It is not just social networks, but also large technology companies, whose size, influence, and economic weight exceed that of several countries.
We have heard a lot about the GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft) in the United States, but in China, there are the BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi), which also have a huge influence, not to mention NVIDIA, a central player in artificial intelligence and now among the largest global market capitalizations.
How do we explain the Israel-Palestine conflict from a historical perspective ranging from Roman times to the most recent proposals concerning Gaza, particularly those associated with Donald Trump where Gaza would be transformed into a sort of “Riviera of the Middle East,” a tourist area with luxury hotels?
How do we explain the use of artificial intelligence to transform images of authoritarian leaders — by themselves! — into Christ-like figures or animal caricatures of their opponents?
It is perhaps humor and comics that allow us to better understand the upheavals of recent years, from the geopolitical power of tech giants to the rise of populism, which remains complex.
Comic strips and humor sometimes help us see more clearly.
/2023/08/21/64e385df259cf_thibaud-template-live.png "Direct. War in the Middle East: Iran threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz if the United States maintains their blockade of Iranian ports.")
