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In the march of humanity toward the unknown and uncertain, there are dates in the year that enable us, almost force us, to stop and take stock of the past and present and then gaze into the future and assess which direction we are heading in and whether a change of course is necessary. This holiday season is guaranteed to be awash with summations of 2025, while we look for clues to the opportunities and challenges of the next 12 months, if not beyond.
Toward the end of 2025, two positive developments have been the ceasefire deal reached in the Gaza war and the new plan to end the war in Ukraine, which was this week discussed in a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
These are early days and, while the ceasefire in Gaza has led to a considerable reduction in the level of violence, the exchange of hostages taken by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and an improvement in the humanitarian conditions in the Strip, the situation there remains extremely volatile. Since the ceasefire came into effect in October, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, in addition to the killing of three Israeli soldiers, with hundreds of violations of the ceasefire reported, leaving strong doubts about whether this war is truly over and whether there is a pathway for moving forward with phase two of the Trump plan. For now, any advance toward a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians remains elusive.
Equally questionable is whether Washington’s push for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow could be enough to bring the........

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