WPR Weekly Review.

"The issues that will shape global politics in 2025."

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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).

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January 4, 2025

Hi, everybody, and Happy New Year. I’m Judah Grunstein, WPR’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a short week since we got back from our end-of-year break, so in this special edition of our Weekly Review newsletter, we’re recapping our series of regional outlooks for 2025 in case you missed them during the holidays.

Europe. Alexander Clarkson writes that how the EU and the U.K. overcome political paralysis to meet pressing internal challenges and guard against external threats—whether from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping or U.S. President-elect Donald Trump once he takes office Jan. 20—will be the dominant theme of European politics in 2025. The Middle East & North Africa. Dalia Dassa Kaye writes that the regional balance of power is shifting, but in which direction is unclear. “And any reshaping that unfolds is likely to come from the region itself in ways that may be surprising and that may not always align with the aspirations of external powers. Africa. Chris O. Ògúnmọ́dẹdé writes that many Africans are looking ahead to 2025 as a “year of momentum,” hoping that a slew of landmark occasions will be sources of impetus for their governments and regional institutions to address key issues still facing the continent. Latin America. James Bosworth writes that Latin America’s winners in 2025 will be the leaders and societies that can figure out how to move away from immediate crisis management to formulate and adopt strategies that can solve bigger challenges over the many years to come. “Unfortunately, patience is in short supply, for both voters and politicians.” China. Mary Gallagher writes that China’s chief challenge will be the need to achieve greater economic growth, with both internal and external dimensions. “It’s unclear what particular solutions to China’s challenges Xi will pursue. What is clear is that 2025 will be a pivotal year for both China and its most powerful leader since Mao.”

And in Thursday’s edition of the Daily Review, we took a look at the biggest thematic issues that we expect to shape global politics in 2025, including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, global migration and the shifting global order. You can read that here.

Of course, 2025 will also have plenty of surprises in store, but we at WPR will do our best to help you make sense of it all.

And if you’re not already a WPR subscriber, we’re offering a subscription deal you won’t find anywhere else: $12 for the first 12 weeks, then 50% off the remainder of the first year. Subscribe here.

What’s On Tap

And coming up next week, we’ve got:

A briefing by Abolghasem Bayyenet on what Iran’s current weakness means for the Middle East. A briefing by Robert Looney on the causes and implications of the Caspian Sea’s rapidly falling water levels. And an in-depth article by Laura Mahrenbach and Maximilian Mayer on the costs and impact of global digital fragmentation.

That’s it for this week. And if you have any comments or feedback, just hit reply to send them along, or contact me on BlueSky at @judah-grunstein.bksy.social.

—Judah Grunstein

This Week On WPR:

Mexico Is Doing the United States’ Dirty Work on Migration

By Daniela Díaz Mexican authorities are stopping, delaying and detaining record numbers of migrants en route to the U.S. border.

The Downing of Flight 8243 Could Jeopardize Russia-Azerbaijan Relations

By Kazimier Lim Azerbaijan and Russia’s relations had been moving in a positive direction. The downing of Flight 8243 could jeopardize that.

Jimmy Carter’s Values-Based Foreign Policy Wasn’t a Failure

By Paul Poast Jimmy Carter’s presidency epitomized a values-based foreign policy for the United States—for better and for worse.

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