Photo: iStock
29/01/2025 19:50
The new year has begun and will bring exciting new foreign policy and geopolitical events. We are entering the Year of the Snake, a year of great change as some countries shed their old skin like snakes and emerge with renewed vigour. January sees the inauguration of a new President of the United States, early elections in Germany and a new minority government in France. The domestic political changes in these countries will have a major impact on the orderliness or disorderliness of the Western world, and the strengthening of the European Union will also depend on the emergence of strong German and French governments that can work together. These questions will be answered this year.
The US President has pledged in his campaign to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so 2025 could well be a year of change. Predictions are that Elon Musk as an advisor to President Trump could also bring change to US-China relations. According to some Chinese portals, Musk is already seen as the new Kissinger.
Meanwhile in Asia, changes are also taking place in various Western allies. The most spectacular is in South Korea, where the president declared martial law last December, only to revoke it a few hours later, but where there has been a full-blown domestic political crisis ever since. On 5 January, the police arrived at the presidential residence with an arrest warrant, but the presidential bodyguard and supporters waving the South Korean and American flags prevented the arrest. The Japanese foreign minister visited China for the first time in two years and struck a conciliatory tone.
However, there are safe havens in the Eurasian region, including Kazakhstan in Central Asia, which is covered in this issue, and Singapore in South-East Asia. In Europe, Hungary has the opportunity in the new international context to play the role of a safe haven, a bridge between the West and the East. 2025 will mark the 15th anniversary of the Opening of the East, and the 10th year since Hungary joined the Belt and Road Initiative.
In a word, 2025 will bring more excitement, so stay tuned to learn even more about the Asian countries and to witness together the emergence of the Eurasian era.