Ten Events in 2024 that will Impact Geopolitics in 2025

1. U.S. Presidential election and the second coming of Republican candidate Donald Trump. Trump’s stated policy of America First”and  “Make America Great Again”is expected to increase trade competition between nations around the globe. Tech billionaire Elon Musk is set to play much bigger role in U.S. policy making under Trump, deciding the course of world politics and trade in 2025.

2. BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, hosted by President Putin which was participated by top world leaders and representatives of more than 50 nations. BRICS is working on a non-U.S., non-West-centric economy and international payment system to respond to the unilateral world and make it multilateral.

3. China’s trade agreements with South American nations, and its Chancay Port in Peru. Right under the nose of world superpower United States of America, China has entered into free trade agreements with many nations of Latin America. This will increase trade rivalry between the two economic powers of the world.

4. Reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris. This brings back the medieval age pride of France and European Christendom as the Cathedral symbolizes the world heritage of finest art and architecture.

5. Fall of Damascus after autocrat ruler Bashar al-Assad ousted by the Islamic civil warriors. A new government has been put in place led by Ahmed al-Sarra of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Many nations including the U.S. and the West have tried to influence the new regime and it is thinking to draft a new constitution and hold an election. The event has changed the balance of power in the Middle-East.

6. Pope Francis has been an active voice for world peace, taking the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli action in Gaza head-on, calling world community to shun war and genocide.

7. Presidential impeachments in South Korea. The tech-savvy nation and home to car makers like Hyundai, is going through serious political crisis that threatens to impact not just auto-mobile market, but market of electronic goods too.

8. Political upheavals in Germany, the largest economy of Europe.  The outcome in the presidential election in the U.S. has impacted politics in Germany too. Right-wing politics that thinks first of Germany, then of the European Union, is garnering strength. Elections to the post of Chancellor is scheduled on February 24, 2025.

9. Israel’s action in Palestine. Despite the U.N. and other nations asking Israel to stop what Pope Francis has termed ‘genocide’, Israel has continued its aggression. This sets a new precedence. Israel’s action with Hezbollah leaders that left many dead as they tried to use a communication device, has changed the way wars are fought.

10. Failure of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The climate change in the world has brought heavy rains, drought, flush flood, and cloud bursts in several nations. Global warming has entered a critical phase.