This edition sheds light on Türkiye’s approach to mitigating economic constraints, strengthening defense exports, and leveraging diplomatic influence to shape the regional and global security order in 2025.

In 2023, the number of conflicts worldwide increased to 59, the highest recorded since data collection began in 1946. US President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the November presidential election raised the possibility of ending at least some of these conflicts. Ending wars was a central commitment of Trump’s election campaign. Americans cast their votes for Trump because they do not want to spend their taxes in these endless wars anymore. While cutting financial aid to war-torn countries could help, the new US administration may need a more comprehensive approach. As Trump pursues his policy to end wars, he may need partners and facilitators to share the burden.

The year 2024 has been recorded as one of the most brutal years for the Palestinian people and the Middle East. Israel insistently continued its genocide in Gaza and its expansionist and aggressive policies toward other regional states. Furthermore, it continued to recklessly violate the basic principles of international law and human rights. It seems that the year 2025 will not bring any change for the Palestinian people. Their destruction and resistance will continue.

The Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missile systems against targets inside Russia has marked a significant escalation in the war.

The current international system, which was already quite vulnerable, has totally collapsed after Israel's genocidal policies and the unconditional support of Western governments for the ongoing genocide committed by Israel. Despite the intensifying global rivalry, there was still some hope for the consolidation of the norms-based international system. At least, many states have declared their determination to take effective measures against the rising unconventional global threats such as climate change, environmental problems, irregular and illegal migration, food and water shortage, drought, failed states, cyber threats and violent nonstate actors.

The world was not in good shape on the second anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian war. A quick look at the most recent developments alone would suffice to appreciate that we are entering a period of fragmentation and high risks.

Russia-Ukraine War | A Two-Year Review

Internal political disputes in the United States have reached a new phase, jeopardizing aid flow to Ukraine. Republicans, who announced they would not support aid to Ukraine until border security is ensured, deemed Biden's concessions on border security insufficient. More precisely, they stalled the issue at the behest of Trump to potentially exploit the immigration crisis in the presidential elections. Especially after this strategy was accepted in the House of Representatives, it was rejected by Senate Republicans. With the passage of a $95 billion aid package, the Senate shifted the responsibility of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to Trump-aligned Republicans. If the House of Representatives rejects this aid package under the pretext of the border crisis, it will mark a new phase in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Avoiding a choice between "war continuation" and "diplomatic solution" until the November elections and managing the current situation should not come as a surprise.

We hope that this edited volume will highlight some critical turning points and moments of failure by the international community in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It should also inform any policy considerations regarding the status of Crimea as well as a potential future settlement of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The conflict may be a protracted one but the prospects for peace, we hope, will emerge sooner rather than later.