2025 The Year of War

Dec 29 2025 BBC

John Simpson: 'I've reported on 40 wars but I've never seen a year like 2025'

End of year articles always tend to have this look-back and look-forward comparison, and in this one by BBC’s John Simpson, both back and forward look pretty bad.

Can’t do anything about the past, and rather than just hoping that the future will be better, we all should do something to make sure it will be better. It might feel futile, but every little bit helps.

From the European point of view, the outlook could scarcely be more gloomy.

If you thought World War Three would be a shooting-match with nuclear weapons, think again. It's much more likely to be a collection of diplomatic and military manoeuvres, which will see autocracy flourish.