A Turbulent 2025

As the holidays draw to a close and the world approaches the dawn of a new year, it is time to take a look at the events that occurred this past year. 2025 was certainly a turbulent year, characterized by the continuation and ignition of armed conflicts, radical changes in politics and policy, and the ever-growing trend of democratic backsliding throughout the world. 

North America

Migrants are loaded onto a U.S. military plane for deportation. Source: The White House

In January, the United States saw the end of President Joe Biden’s term in office and the return of President Donald Trump. The first year of his return to office saw the enactment of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, most of whom had no criminal background, the implementation of tariffs on most countries in the world, thus upending international trade, and going on the military offensive against “narco-terrorists”. President Trump has also acted to dismantle many agencies of the federal government, upend long-held political norms, and adopt an overall more authoritarian tone compared to his first term. In the meantime, the Republican-controlled Congress has neglected to conduct checks and balances on the President’s actions. The actions President Trump has taken have led to a steady decline in his approval ratings, and Democrats scoring big in November’s local and state elections.

The U.S.’s neighbor to the north, Canada, also saw its politics change significantly with the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March. His nearly decade-long tenure in office had seen the Liberal government’s approval ratings steadily decline. With Trudeau out of office, economist Mark Carney took the reins of the government, boosting the Liberal Party’s approval rating and leading to a fourth consecutive Liberal government being elected in April. This occurred despite the Liberal Party polling behind the opposition Conservative Party for much of the time before Carney took office, marking a remarkable rebound for a party once thought to be dead on arrival.

Latin America

Argentinian President Javier Milei celebrates his party’s victory in the midterm elections. Source: AP

Perhaps the biggest story of the continent is the ongoing tensions between the United States and Venezuela. U.S. military presence has significantly increased in the Caribbean, and the Trump administration has designated the Venezuelan government, which it regards as a drug cartel, as a terrorist group. President Trump has refused to rule out invading Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remains defiant and is unlikely to step down as president anytime soon. Meanwhile, the conflict in Haiti persisted as the country continued to suffer a lack of stable leadership.

In Brazil, former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison in connection with a plot that members of the Bolsonaro administration had plotted to keep him in power even amid his loss to current President Lula da Silva, and also to the January 2023 Brasilia attacks in which a mob of Bolsonaro supporters ransacked federal government buildings in the country’s capital. 

The continent also continued to see the reversal of the “pink tide”, with right-wing candidates winning power in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Honduras, while in Argentina, incumbent President Javier Milei’s party won a decisive victory in that country’s midterm elections. In Peru, the country’s legislature voted to remove President Dina Boluarte from power due to an ongoing security crisis and continued domestic unrest. Boluarte had been labeled “the world’s least popular leader” due to her chronically low approval ratings, often as low as 2%.

Europe

President Trump meets with European leaders at the White House. Source: Reuters

The European continent continued to deal with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which continued throughout the year and marked its third anniversary back in February. European allies continued to back the Ukrainian effort even as U.S. support under President Trump wavered. This was notably featured when Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump argued in an Oval Office meeting back in February. The U.S., for its part, has attempted to help Russia and Ukraine come to a peace deal, with Trump even inviting Russia’s Vladimir Putin to a summit in Alaska, but no substantial progress has been made on that front.

Meanwhile, right-wing populism continued to gain popularity throughout much of Europe. In Germany, the SPD, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, lost power to the CDU, led by Friedrich Merz. The German elections saw the far-right AfD party attain second place overall in the popular vote. In Poland, conservative Karol Nawrocki was elected the country’s president, setting him on a collision course with the more moderate Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Far-right and right-wing populist parties also gained ground in Romania and Portugal, while winning the elections in the Czech Republic. 

Changes of leadership occurred in Ireland and Luxembourg, with left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly winning the Irish presidency while Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri abdicated after a 25-year reign in favor of his son, Guillaume V. The waves of change were also felt in the tiny country of Liechtenstein, which became the 39th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

In France, protests broke out after right-wing National Front leader Marine le Pen and fellow National Front party figures were charged with embezzlement, thus disqualifying le Pen from running for president in the upcoming 2027 presidential election. Additionally, the ongoing political crisis in the country continued, with the French government collapsing twice this year.

In the United Kingdom, the right-wing populist Reform Party UK’s polling numbers continued to rise in popularity as the current Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues to remain unpopular due to policy U-turns and his lack of charisma. Polling currently suggests that Labour and its traditional Conservative rivals will not be the biggest parties in Parliament if a general election is held. Meanwhile, a scandal hit the British royal family, with Prince Andrew being stripped of his titles as a prince and as Duke of York, following more documents unveiling his connections to child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Finally, in Rome, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church suffered the loss of their pontiff, Pope Francis, in April. The College of Cardinals voted in May to elect Robert Francis Prevost, a cardinal native to the United States, as the next Pope, and he took the name Leo XIV. So far, it seems the new Pope Leo XIV has gone in a liberal direction just as his late predecessor did. 

Africa

Members of the army walk next to a destroyed military vehicle and bombed buildings in the state of Khartoum.

The continent’s biggest armed conflict, the civil war in Sudan, continued to drag on. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have pushed back against the initial momentum of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), taking back the capital, Khartoum, in March. Meanwhile, the RSF have asserted its control over all of Darfur, taking the SAF’s last stronghold in the region in October. There have been renewed peace negotiations, but nothing substantive has come up as of yet. As a result, Sudan is facing one of the world’s worst hunger crises, with about 25 million people suffering food insecurity. The civil war and the resulting famine seem to have no end in sight.

In the rest of the continent, political upheavals continued to take place. In Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, coups threw out their respective presidents, while the president of Malawi was defeated in his bid for re-election this year. In Cameroon, the 92-year-old incumbent president Paul Biya won re-election to a eighth term, while Gabon held elections in which they elected transitional president Brice Oligui Nguema, who overthrew his cousin in a 2023 coup, as their official president. Meanwhile, an armed conflict continues to persist between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda despite a U.S.-brokered peace deal, as well as conflicts in Libya and Somalia.

The Middle East

President Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Source: The White House

The war in Gaza continued to persist throughout much of 2025. Fighting has become more subdued after a ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025, as a result of a U.S.-brokered peace deal. However, Israel and Hamas have been alleged to have each violated the ceasefire several times.

In June of this year, a mini-war broke out between Iran and Israel in which Israel launched a surprise bombing attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with its own attack, and in response, the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites. This mini-war, which lasted 12 days until the U.S. forced both countries to agree to a ceasefire, is the continuation of a decades-long feud between the two countries. Other conflicts in the region, such as the ongoing Islamic State insurgency in Iraq and the civil war in Yemen, continued to drag on.

One seemingly positive bit of news appears to be coming out of Syria, where the new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has moved to normalize relations with the West and Syria’s Arab neighbors, which have long been strained under the previous president and dictator, Bashar al-Assad. He has also moved to loosen the authoritarian grip Assad’s regime had once held over all of Syrian society. One can hope that al-Sharaa’s intentions are those of goodwill.

Asia and the Pacific

Nepal’s parliament building is set ablaze amid the Gen Z protests. Source: AP

The global political turmoil persisted in Asia as well. Two minor conflicts broke out as a result of longstanding tensions, with India launching missile strikes on Pakistan in May, while border clashes occurred between Thailand and Cambodia in July. These conflicts later ended as a result of U.S.-brokered ceasefires, although Thailand and Cambodia later resumed fighting for a few weeks in December. A leaked phone call between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia’s Hun Sen relating to the border conflict in July exposed Shinawatra as being too deferential to her Cambodian counterpart, resulting in her ouster from office.

Shinawatra was not the only Asian leader ousted from office this year. In South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had been suspended from office due to declaring martial law in December 2024, was impeached and removed from office. Lee Jae Myung, previously the leader of the opposition, was elected to replace him. In Nepal, the Gen Z protests ousted much of the country’s leadership, while protests against corruption in Indonesia and the Philippines took place. Armed conflict continued to take place in Myanmar, even as the military junta held elections.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stepped down in October and was replaced by the more right-wing Sanae Takaichi, who subsequently became the country’s first female prime minister. Her tenure has seen increased tensions with China as a result of a comment she made stating that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute an “existential crisis for Japan” and result in Japan mobilizing its self-defense forces. In response, China has demanded Takaichi withdraw her remarks, and her refusal to do so has led to retaliatory measures being made against Japan.

Meanwhile, China is now engaged in a renewed trade war with the United States, with the latter imposing large tariffs on it. Taking advantage of the U.S. withdrawal from international affairs, China has expanded diplomatic outreach in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Finally, Australia’s Labor government won re-election to a second term in office, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claiming victory. The Labor Party overperformed expectations set forth by polling. 

Conclusion

2025 has been a turbulent year marked by a relentless news cycle. It will make its way into the history books. We now await 2026 with great anticipation and trepidation, as the politics and conflicts that defined this year will no doubt continue to persist. But for now, I wish everyone reading this a happy new year!