Messages from 2024 to 2025

The world is entering 2025 in an environment of multifaceted chaos. A 54-year dictatorship in Syria has been overthrown . It is not yet clear what kind of order will be established in Syria after the overthrow of the regime. The Hay'etu Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has taken over the administration, has a history of al-Qaeda. Although the organization has ended its relations with al-Qaeda, it has a worrying past.

The 13-year civil war in Syria shaped the foreign policies of many countries around the axis of US-Russian relations. Then, Russia's war on Ukraine in 2022 took international diplomacy to another dimension along with the Syrian issue.

The first days of 2025 will begin with Donald Trump sitting in the US presidency for the second time. Trump is making statements as if he were in office without officially taking office. Joe Biden, who is still in office, is almost non-existent. The world is focused on Trump's statements.

Trump is sending threatening messages to the world. He says that if the BRICS countries trade with their own currencies other than the US Dollar, they will face customs walls. He says that if Europe does not meet its energy needs with the US, customs tariffs will be applied .

Elon Musk, who will be tasked with reducing public spending in Trump’s staff, threatened to bring all official institutions in the US to a standstill . The crisis was overcome just hours before the main stoppage of all official institutions. Trump did not hesitate to take steps to bring all public institutions to a standstill during his first term as president.

The spending package signed by Biden prevented all public institutions from being sidelined. However, a regulation that was not included in the package but was desired by Republicans was not enacted. Republicans wanted tax breaks for billionaires.

We are watching the world's richest individual become a force in politics in the US. Musk's fortune is currently at $458 billion, while Trump has a fortune of $6.6 billion.

The United States is rapidly moving away from being a democracy with the increasing support of big business. There is increasing evidence that the period 2025-2029 will not be a year to remember well for either the United States or the world.

John Kelly, who served as chief of staff during the first Trump term between 2017 and 2019, recently told the press that Trump had said, “Hitler did good things.” On the other hand, Musk expressed on his X account that the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, which is growing in Germany, could be the only savior of Germany and supported the party. Musk received a thank-you message immediately from Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD. Weidel had also congratulated Trump with a warm message when he was re-elected as president.

There is a rise in the far right worldwide. It is worrying that far right parties are coming to power or the possibility of them coming to power is increasing. In addition to the dimension of the issue regarding democracy, it does not seem possible for these parties to find solutions to the global problems of a globalized world. They come to power by impressing the electorate with the promise of making their countries “great again” and the claim of being “saviors.” The data in the economy do not yet indicate that the concept of “deglobalization” has been realized, but the discourses in international politics clearly indicate that globalization is over.

The German elections to be held on February 23rd are extremely important in terms of the effects that Germany, which is experiencing a political and economic crisis, will have on Europe. Europe is in a long-term governance crisis. The crisis has been voiced by names such as Macron and Draghi . In addition, the World Bank is also emphasizing a global multi-crisis.

In Europe, opposition to the European Union (EU) has been gaining strength for some time. The far-right representative AfD, which has gained strength in a country that forms the backbone of the EU like Germany, is also anti-EU. The party was founded in 2013 and is particularly strong in the former German Democratic Region. The AfD has an anti-immigrant stance and is particularly anti-Muslim immigrants. Finally, attacks like the one that took place in Magdeburg have played a significant role in the party’s strengthening.

While the rising far-right in Europe (e.g. Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Hungary, Poland, Austria) is a problem, some European countries and political ideologies that are more sympathetic to Russia and China than Europe itself are also another problem for Europe.

The world where collaborations were talked about is over. We are now in the era of threats, hot and cold conflicts and re-building walls. The world is entering 2025 in this atmosphere.