The year 2025 is likely to be remembered as a decisive rupture in the post-war international order. Within months of returning to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump dismantled key pillars of multilateral cooperation painstakingly built since 1945. Washington’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization weakened collective action on climate change and global health. Yet the most consequential shift came through the adoption of the America First Trade Policy — a doctrine that redefined trade as an instrument of power rather than cooperation, triggering economic shocks, diplomatic realignments and a rapid fragmentation of the global trading system.

At first glance, 2025 appeared to be an uneventful year for Indian sport. It arrived without the drama of an Olympics, an Asian Games or a football World Cup. Yet, in retrospect, it stands out as a quietly consequential year — one that consolidated gains, tested transitions, and set the emotional and competitive tone for an extraordinarily crowded 2026. Rather than a lull, 2025 functioned as a bridge between eras, revealing where Indian sport is strongest, where it is uncertain, and where its ambitions are headed.

When India overtook China in 2025 to become the world’s largest producer and exporter of rice, the moment was celebrated as a symbol of farmer resilience, policy support and food security success. With exports crossing 20 million metric tonnes and a share of nearly 40% in global rice trade, India has emerged as the single most influential actor in the international rice market. Yet beneath this impressive achievement lies a deepening paradox: the very policies that power India’s rice dominance are eroding groundwater, trapping farmers in debt, and undermining long-term agricultural sustainability.

At a time when the global trading system is marked by protectionism, fractured supply chains and strategic mistrust, India stands at a critical inflection point. The announcement of the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on December 22, 2025, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is more than a bilateral commercial arrangement. It signals India’s re-emergence as a confident trade negotiator, a credible economic partner, and an increasingly important rule-shaper in a turbulent global economy.

As 2025 draws to a close, the United States’ largest military mobilisation in the Caribbean in decades has become a defining symbol of a deeper shift in American grand strategy. The deployment of an aircraft carrier group, advanced fighter jets, submarines and amphibious forces to pressure Venezuela is not merely a regional coercive move. It coincides with the Trump administration’s latest National Security Strategy (NSS), which signals a decisive reorientation: renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere alongside a visible retreat from underwriting European security. Together, these developments underscore a larger transformation — the United States adjusting to a world no longer shaped by unchallenged American dominance.