For those who lived through the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, was an unforgettable moment. Yet fast forward to December 2025, and one question persists: did the cold war – the west’s many-fronted, global confrontation with Moscow and its allies – ever truly end? Think of 9/11, which led the US to declare a “global war on terror”. True turning points in history are actually quite rare – and difficult to spot. If one is allowed a wish for 2026, it’s that there be no great geopolitical turning points, no epic spasms or watersheds (with possible exceptions for Putin’s defeat and Trump’s resignation).

Source: The Guardian December 29, 2025 01:22 UTC