Sitting down to write about the siege on democracy while images of Russians voting appear on screens is poetic justice. We call the cardboard stage sarcastically organized by Vladimir Putin's regime legislative elections. The new tsar has been at the center of Russian power for 27 years thanks to methods learned in the KGB. The systematic elimination of dissent, of civil and political opposition, and of free media, along with a predatory instinct, have turned him into a totalitarian leader who swims in corruption. After internally drowning any symptom of democratic development and wiping out the oligarchs and the opposition, Putin has been waging a war against Ukraine for four years, with Chinese acquiescence, which he is now expanding to the whole of Europe. The advantage of totalitarians is that social control has no costs. Especially for a paranoid and icy mind like that of the Russian president, who is determined to turn into reality the territorial expansion that only connects with a glorious past in his imagination.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, supported this Thursday the commitment of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to strengthen relations with countries like Canada, which the head of the European executive proposed to be the first associated member of the European Union, a formula that does not yet exist in European treaties. During the presentation of the CIDOB International Yearbook, Albares asserted that "it is not about excluding anyone, but about preserving an international order capable of offering security, stability, and opportunities for everyone".

The first year of Donald Trump's second term has consolidated a dynamic that had been brewing for some time, but which has now accelerated: economic and technological coercion in relations within a Europe caught between the United States and Russia. In a context of tariffs and expansionist interventionism, China seeks to project stability and expand its markets, while new alliances are being forged in the Global South. 2026, therefore, will be a year of "global readjustment" in which "the capacity to adapt to a brutal geopolitics will be tested." This is the prediction of researchers at CIDOB, who have selected the 10 issues that will shape the global agenda in 2026. We review them one by one.

The new US administration, with a more unpredictable Trump, the escalation of war in Europe, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza stemming from Israel's genocidal war, highlight an international system entering a dark phase, marked by the erosion of the consensus that had sustained the global order in recent decades, since World War II. In this context, the Centre for International Information and Documentation in Barcelona (CIDOB) presented the 35th edition of its International Yearbook this Thursday, which identifies three major global challenges: the new international economic order, the geopolitics of climate change, and the future of warfare. "We must understand the world to transform it responsibly, but one of the problems is that the great power, the United States, is not seeking solutions, but rather denying the problem," said Josep Borrell, former High Representative of the European Union and now president of CIDOB. In this section of the Yearbook, CIDOB analyzes how the United States has eroded the system of international agreements and alliances, thereby weakening its own economic security and opening the door to a world order less dependent on Washington. Regarding the future of Europe's relationship with the US administration, the advisor for European Union and Foreign Action, Jaume Duch, was emphatic: "We can no longer speak of an accident of history, but of a deep and enduring trend. With or without Trump, we are heading towards a major shock; if we don't reinvent the European Union and adapt it to a world for which it was not created, we are heading towards a major shock." In this respect, the Yearbook also analyzes the future of the dollar as the main international reserve asset, the concept of geoeconomics, and the growing competition between blocs for control of critical minerals and rare earth elements, fundamental for the green transition.

On the cover of the book In the seniors' playground: Europe facing a hostile world (The Bell), a wolf with a hungry face and a sheep looking at it out of the corner of its eye are drawn. It's a good reflection of the geopolitical, and also existential, dilemma facing Europe now that the global landscape has shifted toward aggression and competition. What does Europe want to be? Is it possible to achieve European power in a world where the law of the strongest once again prevails? Is this the way to guarantee the future of the European Union? Pol Morillas (Barcelona, ​​​​1982), political scientist, director of CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs) and one of the most authoritative voices in analyzing European geopolitics, analyzes it in this vital essay to understand where we are going.

After five years leading European diplomacy, Josep Borrell has assumed the presidency of CIDOB, the Barcelona Center for International Affairs. He made his debut this Saturday at a meeting of experts on the Middle East, where he called for the people of Gaza not to be forgotten. "The war in Gaza is no longer on the front pages of newspapers, and everyone is waiting to see what Trump will do tomorrow in Washington, but in the Strip the situation remains horrific, and since then, Israel has broken the ceasefire have more deaths, especially women and children, who at first," warned the Catalan socialist leader.

After five years leading European diplomacy, Josep Borrell has assumed the presidency of CIDOB, the leading international think tank based in Barcelona. He made his debut this Saturday at a meeting of experts on the Middle East, where he called for the people of Gaza not to be forgotten. "The war in Gaza is no longer on the front pages of newspapers, and everyone is waiting to see what Trump will do tomorrow in Washington, but in the Strip the situation remains horrific, and since then, Israel has broken the ceasefire have more deaths, especially women and children, who at first," warned the Catalan socialist leader.