A Year of Unprecedented Conflict: John Simpson's Reflections on 2025

Tue Dec 30 2025 04:37:10 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Veteran journalist John Simpson shares his alarming insights on the escalating global conflicts of 2025, warning of a potential world war sparked by geopolitical tensions.

In a year marked by significant wars across the globe, BBC's John Simpson reflects on the escalating tensions, particularly highlighting the Ukraine conflict and its potential implications for global stability. He expresses concern over western responses to Russia's aggressive actions, the dire humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Gaza, and the shifting dynamics of U.S. foreign policies under Donald Trump’s administration. Simpson warns that 2026 may become a pivotal year for international relations, as alliances are tested and the threat of further escalation looms.

Sensitive content: This article contains a graphic description of death that some readers may find upsetting.

I've reported on more than 40 wars around the world during my career, which goes back to the 1960s. I watched the Cold War reach its height, then simply evaporate. But I've never seen a year quite as worrying as 2025 has been - not just because several major conflicts are raging but because it is becoming clear that one of them has geopolitical implications of unparalleled importance.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the current conflict in his country could escalate into a world war. After nearly 60 years of observing conflict, I've got a nasty feeling he's right.

Nato governments are on high alert for any signs that Russia is cutting the undersea cables that carry the electronic traffic that keeps Western society going. Their drones are accused of testing the defences of Nato countries. Their hackers develop ways of putting ministries, emergency services, and huge corporations out of operation.

Authorities in the west are certain Russia's secret services murder and attempt to murder dissidents who have taken refuge in the West. An inquiry into the attempted murder in Salisbury of the former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal in 2018 concluded that the attack had been agreed at the highest level in Russia, that means President Putin himself.

The year 2025 has been marked by three very different wars. There is Ukraine of course, where the UN says 14,000 civilians have died. In Gaza, where Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu promised 'mighty vengeance' after about 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and 251 people were taken hostage. Since then, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action, including more than 30,000 women and children according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry - figures the UN considers reliable.

Meanwhile, there has been a ferocious civil war between two military factions in Sudan, leading to the deaths of over 150,000 people.

The year has also seen political shifts, with the U.S. reassessing its role on the global stage under President Trump, while simultaneously indicating a troubling isolationism that could lead to increased instability in Europe.