Wars that refused to end, a return to hardline power politics, booming tech and simmering societal anger... RFI cartoonist Mouche captured the legacy of 2025, from Donald Trump’s aggressive second term and fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine, to youth-led revolts across continents and a climate summit that delivered minimal results.
Trump rebooted
Returning to the White House in January, Donald Trump launched his protectionist second term agenda at breakneck speed, ordering mass deportations of undocumented migrants, imposing sweeping budget cuts and dismantling large parts of the United States' federal government.
Trump also deployed the National Guard in Democrat-led cities, sought to intimidate the media and freely threatened his opponents with legal action.
'Ceasefire' in Gaza
Under pressure from Washington, a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas, two years after the start of the war in Gaza following the 7 October, 2023 attacks. It allowed the return to Israel of the last living hostages and most of the bodies of those killed, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But the truce remains fragile. Negotiations on the second phase of the peace plan have stalled, with both sides accusing each other almost daily of violating the agreement.
Ukraine peace efforts at a standstill
Trump’s return to the White House revived efforts to end the war in Ukraine, but talks have failed to deliver a breakthrough. The US president made repeated reversals before putting forward a draft plan widely seen as favourable to Moscow.
International discussions continue on that basis, while Russia appears unwilling to compromise and continues its slow and costly advances on the ground.
Tariffs trigger global showdown
Trump imposed tariffs on imports and on entire sectors deemed strategic, triggering a trade conflict that shook the global economy. Difficult negotiations led to numerous agreements, with uneven consequences depending on the country in question.
Talks with neighbouring Mexico and Canada continue to drag on while relations with China, above all, are extremely tense.
AI’s explosive rise
Technology giants and investors spent vast sums to fuel the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. Markets fear a speculative bubble and concerns are mounting, with AI accused of driving disinformation and copyright violations.
Many companies cited it to justify mass lay-offs too. As the technology expands rapidly, the full consequences are difficult to assess.
Gen Z in revolt
Nepal, Indonesia, Peru, Madagascar, Morocco, Bulgaria... across the world, mass movements led by people under 30 emerged in protest at poor living conditions, social media censorship and elite corruption.
They adopted the pirate flag from the manga comic One Piece as a symbol, both on the streets and online, and while their success and impact varied from country to country, together they reflected the anger of a generation.
Climate warnings fall flat
It was another bleak year for the climate. Deadly floods struck Vietnam, while hurricanes and typhoons devastated the Caribbean and the Philippines. Across Europe, temperatures surged and forest fires intensified.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more deadly and more destructive because of climate change. Despite this, Cop30 – held in Belém, in the Amazon – resulted in only a minimalist agreement.
Former leaders behind bars
The year was also marked by the imprisonment of several former presidents. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro began serving a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy was jailed for 20 days after his conviction for criminal conspiracy.
In South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol is in detention and on trial for insurrection and abuse of power. In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and transferred to The Hague under a warrant from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
This retrospective was translated from the original version in French
