No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is: Humanity’s Missing Project

Fragmented by nationalism and distracted by power games, humanity stands at a turning point. We face global crises that threaten our survival, yet we remain without a common purpose rooted in solidarity and mutual care. This—our failure to recognize our shared fate—is the true crisis of our time.

Every nation clings to its sovereign right to act in its own interest: to strike deals, close borders, and extract value from the global system. This is not new—but it is increasingly dangerous. The Global South strives to reclaim agency from centuries of domination. Africa seeks to shape its future free of outside interference. Asia is lifting millions from poverty through rapid development. Meanwhile, Western powers continue to exert dominance through sanctions, militarization, and economic coercion. Under the banner of a “multipolar world,” the global political order is recycling the same hegemonic logic—just under new names. Both sides of the political divide seem to believe that militarization and bullying are legitimate means to consolidate this fragmentation—all in the name of “security.”

But the realities of our time demand something radically different.

COVID-19 swept across the planet, ignoring borders, languages, and religions. Climate catastrophe looms ever closer. Unchecked corporate power fuels inequality and environmental destruction. These crises do not discriminate, and they cannot be resolved by individual nations alone.

Everything humanity has developed—language, technology, religion, agriculture—has brought us to this moment. We are now confronted with the inescapable truth of our interdependence. We exist together on this Earth. We survive together—or not at all. We have a moral obligation to transform that oneness into a living reality.

The tragedy is that we have no unifying project. No shared aim worthy of our human potential. Despite our vast knowledge and powerful tools, we have failed to answer the simplest question: Why are we here? This is where we must direct our energy.

Instead, we remain trapped in short-term self-interest—both personal and national. We protect our own at the expense of others. But if we want to survive as a species—and not just as competing nations—we must reverse course. We must stop mistaking sovereignty for strength. True strength lies in solidarity.

So what are we here for, as human beings? What could we create together if we aligned our energy with our conscience? What if the measure of sovereignty were not how fiercely we protect our borders, but how deeply we protect human dignity—everywhere?

We possess knowledge, technology, and science beyond anything our ancestors could have imagined. To move forward, we must transcend our “ego-ism,” both personal and national, and begin to imagine another future—one where solidarity, not sovereignty, leads the way.

If we want to survive as a species—and not just as nations—we must urgently ask the only question that matters:

What can we build together?

First published in Pressenza and  available in: Spanish

David Andersson is a writer and humanist based in New York City. He focuses on issues of global justice, collective consciousness, and nonviolent transformation. He co-directs Pressenza International Press Agency and is the author of The White-West: A Look in the Mirror, a collection of op-eds examining the dynamics of Western identity and its global impact. His recent work, including The Quiet Revolution: Women, Power, and the Transformation of Our Time, has been published by CounterPunch, Countercurrents, LA Progressive, and Dissident Voice. Many of his articles have been translated into more than five languages.