2025 was a year full of change: with the change of power in the United States, there has been a U-turn in the way national and international politics are conducted. Trade policy was subject to unprecedented tariff sanctions on the part of the US. US policy has been reduced to successful or unsuccessful deals. Germany has lost a reliable partner on a political and economic level. The year 2025 also showed that diplomacy – or whatever one might call Trump's talks with Putin – has not brought about any success in achieving a just peace in Ukraine. In Germany, a new government was elected with the hope of quickly leaving three years of stagnation behind. With the majority of the traffic light coalition government, the armament and investment packages were approved, along with a massive debt option for Germany. The ‘autumn of reforms’ was supposed to mark the beginning of a series of far-reaching reforms, which, however, are likely to continue for several seasons. The debate on pension reform shows that Germany has a lot of work ahead of it. Economic news was dominated by announcements of job cuts, plant closures and production reductions. Artificial intelligence is finding its way into German offices. When the sack of rice falls over in China, Europe takes notice: delivery stops for rare earths or spokes

Now the year 2025 has come to an end. The turn of the year always brings with it hopes for a positive change, for a better year than the last. At the same time, there is no inherent ‘magic’ in the start of a new year: anyone who has never done any sport before 31 December is unlikely to discover a passion for it on 1 January. So what will shape the year 2026? The 15 points listed in our GWS-Kurzmitteilung 1/2026 are, from our perspective, the most important cornerstones for the coming year that need to be kept in mind.  
 

Mönnig, A., Wolter, M. I., Stöver, B. & Lutz, C. (2026): Was wird 2026 wichtig? Ein Ausblick. GWS-Kurzmitteilung 1/2026, Osnabrück.