Nikos Konstandaras

Even if Turkey wanted to keep a low profile, its greed would not allow it to. When it still seemed that Bashar al-Assad would confront the Islamist

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's wars may not have started in 2024; Donald Trump has been president before; for decades, the United Nations

On the last day of the year, it is customary to note the series of events, to evaluate the international political and economic climate, to measure our strengths and our weaknesses, as we tumble into the new year, loaded with burdens but always hoping for something better. Aside from whatever occurred – great or small, good or bad, a one-off or the consequence of war or of the climate crisis – there is another dimension which we should record, which concerns how we feel, how we chart our course in this continual flow. The river is everchanging, but it remains a river. And we remain ourselves, even as time changes us. So, what changed in us over the past year? Were our desires met? Were our fears confirmed? Everyone has a different answer. We live in the same world, but the good and bad are not synchronized, they touch us differently, with different intensity, we taste joy and bitterness at different moments.

The new year is groaning under the previous one's heavy legacy. Donald Trump is returning to power, Germany is holding early elections on February 23 and in France political uncertainty reins. Since Wednesday, the war in Ukraine has come closer for many Europeans, as the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine has stopped.

At the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, it is clear that humanity will struggle to deal with the existential threats that it faces. The past year “handed” 2025 all the dead ends that became evident in democracy, the economy and journalism.

Costas Simitis was born into a political family and lived his life in the tumult of Greece’s politics, but he was so “alien,” so different to other Greek politicians that he was like a board on which everyone could project his own desires, fears and bigotry.

One of the late Costas Simitis's most memorable comments, “This is Greece!,” was made in Parliament a few days after the passenger ferry Express Samina sank off Paros, with the loss of 81 lives, on 26 September 2000. For some, this was a declaration of national self-knowledge. Others chose to see it as a mark of indifference and a rejection of government responsibility, an interpretation that was revived in the past few days. Now, a quarter of a century later, after the death of the man who governed Greece for eight years, it is worth examining the landmark declaration in its historical context and over the subsequent years.

In a week’s time we will know whether Donald Trump upheld his “promise” to shock and awe the world on the first day of his second presidency.

Even though the great questions of national identity and the form of the polity that plagued the Greeks since the War of Independence were solved decades ago, at the slightest prompting we see outbreaks of unquenchable anger and unjustified division.

In his last message to the people of the United States from the White House, Joe Biden sought to highlight the achievements of his presidency and to warn of the dangers that the country faces. “Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances, it may not be perfect, but it's maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years – longer than any other nation in history that's ever tried such a bold experiment,” the outgoing president said. But today, “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he added. “A tech-industrial complex… could pose real dangers for our country… Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling… The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”