As 2025 drew to a close, it became clear that the year had not delivered resolutions so much as turning points.
Politics, war, technology, and climate shocks converged to reshape global power balances and set the tone for an even more uncertain 2026.
Here are the ten defining events that marked the year.
1. Trump’s Return to Power
Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025 sent shockwaves through the United States and beyond.
Reasserting his “America First” doctrine, Trump issued a barrage of executive orders targeting trade, immigration, federal agencies, and diversity policies.
Some measures were blocked by courts, but others triggered sweeping changes, from mass deportations of undocumented migrants to the dismantling of entire federal departments.
Critics warned that Trump’s actions undermined democratic norms and civil liberties, pointing to confrontations with the media and the deployment of National Guard forces to Democratic-led cities.
Economically, public discontent grew over inflation and the rising cost of living. Electoral losses for Republicans in key states left the party weakened ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Ceasefire in Gaza
After two devastating years of war, a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza on 10 October 2025.
The deal enabled a phased exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and allowed increased humanitarian aid into the enclave, though far short of what aid agencies said was needed.
However, more regional tensions escalated further, with continued clashes involving Hezbollah in Lebanon and unprecedented Israeli strikes on Iran in June, triggering a 12-day war that briefly drew in the United States.
In September, Israeli air raids on targets in Qatar marked another dramatic expansion of the conflict’s geographic reach.
3. Sudan’s War
Sudan’s brutal civil war took a catastrophic turn in October when the Rapid Support Forces seized El Fasher, the last major army stronghold in Darfur, after an 18-month siege.
The fall of the city was accompanied by reports of mass atrocities, displacement, and widespread destruction.
With all five Darfur state capitals now under Rapid Support Forces control, the country edged closer to de facto partition, with the RSF dominating the west and parts of the south, and the army holding the north and east.
The United Nations described the conflict as a “war of atrocities,” warning of ethnic-based violence reminiscent of Darfur’s darkest chapter two decades earlier.
Ukraine
Trump’s return to office revived hopes, briefly, for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Washington pushed for negotiations, including talks in Istanbul and a high-profile Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.
None produced a breakthrough.
5. A Global Trade War
Trump’s conviction that global trade disadvantaged the United States reignited protectionism.
Washington imposed sweeping tariffs on imports, including targeted levies on steel, aluminum, and copper.
Retaliatory measures followed, rattling markets and supply chains.
Negotiations eventually produced limited truces with the European Union and China by late October, easing pressure on the global economy.
Talks with Mexico stalled, and relations with Canada cooled. Under domestic pressure, Trump later lifted tariffs on select food imports, but the broader shift toward economic nationalism reshaped global trade dynamics.
6. A New Pope for the Catholic Church
In May, white smoke rose over the Vatican as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead the Catholic Church.
Born in Chicago and a former missionary in Peru, Leo XIV positioned himself as a moderate reformer, continuing Pope Francis’s focus on social justice, poverty, migration, and the environment.
At the same time, he extended gestures to conservatives, restoring the traditional Latin Mass at the Vatican and ruling out, for now, major doctrinal changes on issues such as women’s ordination and same-sex marriage.
7. Gen Z Takes to the Streets
Across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, young people, largely from Generation Z, emerged as a powerful force of protest. Demonstrations erupted over living costs, corruption, insecurity, and restrictions on social media.
In Peru and Morocco, protests pressured governments into reform pledges.
Elsewhere, unrest proved transformative. Riots in Nepal forced the prime minister’s resignation, while in Madagascar, protests culminated in a military-backed ouster of the president.
From Tanzania to beyond, the pirate flag inspired by the Japanese anime One Piece became an unlikely global symbol of resistance.
8. The AI Investment Increases
Artificial intelligence dominated boardrooms and markets in 2025. Global spending on AI surged toward an estimated 1.5 trillion dollars, driven by tech giants and startups racing to build more powerful systems.
Nvidia’s market value soared past 5 trillion dollars, fueling fears of a speculative bubble.
Alongside enthusiasm came unease. Concerns over misinformation, copyright disputes, job losses, and regulation intensified.
High-profile controversies prompted tighter safeguards by AI companies and new legislation, particularly in California, highlighting the growing tension between innovation and accountability.
9. US Strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific
In August, the United States launched a campaign of strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific.
The strikes heightened regional tensions, especially with Venezuela, which accused the US of using anti-drug operations as a pretext to undermine President Nicolás Maduro and seize control of oil resources.
The episode underscored how security operations increasingly intersect with geopolitical rivalries.
10. Extreme Weather Intensifies
Climate change made its presence felt with deadly force. Hurricane Melissa, among the strongest ever recorded in the Caribbean, devastated Jamaica and inundated Haiti and Cuba.
In Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, unprecedented rains triggered floods and landslides, killing more than a thousand people in Indonesia alone.
Europe endured its worst wildfire season in decades, while lightning-sparked fires in the United States forced the closure of parts of the Grand Canyon.
Scientists warned that such extreme events, more frequent, intense, and destructive, are now the new normal.
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