World Briefing Plus: Connecting the Dots at Year’s End

Inside a year when Americans feel cornered, wars refuse to end, and certainty has all but vanished.

As the year draws to a close, this extended World Briefing Plus takes a step back - and widens the lens.

I begin with reflections from my recent trip to the United States, where a palpable sense of anxiety now hangs in the air. Beyond the rising cost of living, tariffs, healthcare cutbacks, and grocery bills, many Americans harbour deeper fears: about freedom of speech, aggressive law enforcement tactics, the role of ICE, and a growing uncertainty over where the country is headed under a second Trump presidency. For some, the stress and unpredictability have become so overwhelming that they are quietly contemplating leaving the country altogether.

From there, I unpack the contradictions of a self-styled “peace president” operating in a split-screen reality - signing headline-grabbing agreements even as uncertainty resurges in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, along the Thai-Cambodian border, and now in Nigeria. Dubious claims of genocide in South Africa and northern Nigeria collide with facts on the ground, while resource politics - from Ukraine to to Gaza to Venezuela - increasingly appear to shape Washington’s foreign policy calculus. At times, the line between real-world power and political fiction feels uncomfortably thin.

I then turn to Ukraine, ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s high-stakes visit to meet with Donald Trump and his team in Florida. I explain why I hold little optimism about the proposed 20-point peace plan: from impossible referendums and shaky security guarantees to a vast demilitarized zone impossible to monitor. I also address the latest corruption scandal engulfing Zelensky’s own party - a bitter blow to public trust at a moment when Ukraine can least afford it.

This is an extended, candid, and deeply personal end-of-year edition - connecting dots across continents and conflicts that rarely get connected.

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Thank you for reading, watching, and engaging — and I wish all of you a safe, peaceful, and hopeful New Year.

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