As 2019 draws to a close, popular culture is rife with countdown lists and reflections on a year gone by. So in our last post of 2019, we decided to join in the fun and reflect on some of the major global events and trends of this year. Though this certainly isn’t a comprehensive list, here is a continent-by-continent breakdown of the Year In Review: 2019.

Europe

Much of European news in 2019 was dominated by discussions about the British exit from the European Union (Brexit). Though the final end of Brexit appears to be in sight with Britain’s new conservative government, it took months of negotiating and painstaking delays to get there. But despite increased national protectionism in many European nations, the EU still seemed relatively strong. It appears the chaos of the Brexit example may have helped to dissuade other nations from seeking to break away from the EU. Still, far-right leaders in Europe are instead looking to remake the union in their own image in 2020.

Asia

Once again, China remains the big story of the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the trade war and technology bans with the United States, China continued its historic rise throughout 2019. However, cracks in China’s power and prestige have taken center stage as democratic protests broke out in Hong Kong. In addition, staggering human rights abuses of the Uighur Muslim population continued to strain Chinese relations with some nations. Elsewhere, instability in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan boiled over with the Indian government’s lock-down of the area. Finally, tensions in the Middle East escalated throughout the year as the feud between Iran and Saudi Arabia resulted in several violent clashes.

Africa

The end of 2019 saw the United States begin the process of drawing down its military presence in Africa. For years, the American mission was to combat terrorism, but this mission has largely been replaced by great power struggles with nations like Russia and China. Population booms continued throughout the continent which pushed housing prices higher and raises the risk for further instability. Finally, another massive outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus led the World Health Organization to declare an international public health emergency. This current outbreak is the second largest in recorded history.

South & Central America

2019 was a year of protests and radical politics throughout South & Central America. Both Venezuela and Bolivia endured presidential election crises, with the future still uncertain in both nations. In Brazil, far-right politics reigned supreme as president Bolsonaro created a new political party in his own image. These events and record-breaking economic inequality have pushed migrants to continue fleeing north despite hard-line American immigration policies.

Australia

Gripped by record-shattering heatwaves and wildfires, Australia is on the front lines of global climate change. This reality came into sharp focus towards the end of 2019 as severe drought and high temperatures sparked massive bush fires throughout the continent. Along the coast, warming oceans led the Australian government to downgrade the health of the Great Barrier Reef to “very poor.” Even with substantial and immediate progress on combating climate change, 2019 showed that the damage has already been done in many regions of the world.

Overall, the world in 2019 continued to limp towards greater instability. In addition to the political tensions of rising global powers and strained international organizations, changing climates threatened to ignite conflict over increasingly scarce resources. So, how can American leadership help solve these problems in 2020? It certainly can’t solve everything, but American leadership can help make things better by spearheading global improvement initiatives. This can be done without even expending large resources at home, as the United States is more than capable of rallying other nations to provide resources to combat global problems. However, the absence of American leadership or its mismanagement will only serve to make matters worse. Let’s all do what we can to make 2020 a better year for America and for the world.