As I write this piece the world remains in as febrile a condition as I have ever seen it, with fires – literally – burning on multiple fronts in the West and East. Whilst we appear to be coming through the first stage of the medical (coronavirus) challenge, race issues have again risen to the fore in the US – replicated to a thankfully lesser extent in the UK – and tension is continuing to rise in Hong Kong given the inexorable encroachment of Chinese influence on the territory.