Over the past week, our writers have taken a look at what they expect 2025 to look like for five regions and countries: Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and China. Today, we want to look at the broader themes and storylines that will shape the global landscape—and our coverage of it—in 2025.
Trump’s second term. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will take office for his second nonconsecutive term on Jan. 20, and based on his campaign promises and slate of announced nominees for his administration, his return to the White House will likely create a lot of disruption. Particularly in the short term, that disruption may have the most impact domestically, exacerbating political polarization and institutional paralysis in the United States.
But much like his first term, Trump’s return to the presidency will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on the U.S. role in the global order, too. This time around, the primary burden of that shift may be felt by countries in the Western Hemisphere, but the expected foreign policy shake-up will likely affect everything from U.S.-China relations and European security to the balance of power in the Middle East.