Photograph: AP
Dec 19th 2024
In a remarkable comeback Donald Trump was elected as America’s president for a second time. Six months before the vote Mr Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records in a hush-money case, the first criminal conviction handed to anyone who has sat in the Oval Office. In July a gunman tried to assassinate the Republican at a campaign event, slightly wounding him; Mr Trump’s rallying cry of “Fight, fight, fight!” energised his base. Kamala Harris’s “brat summer” turned out to be a damp squib for the Democrats, who also lost control of the Senate at the election. Ms Harris became the Democratic candidate when Joe Biden pulled out of the race after a disastrous debate for him.
I could never be president
Elon Musk aligned himself with Mr Trump and spent $277m backing the Republicans. His wealth has risen by $170bn since the election, thanks mostly to the increase in the value of his Tesla stock.
Israel invaded Lebanon, after Hizbullah intensified its rocket attacks. In preparation for its offensive Israel injured or killed thousands of Hizbullah operatives by tapping and exploding their pagers and Israeli forces went about eliminating the Iranian-backed militia’s leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah, its long-serving head. The leadership of Hamas was also all but wiped out. Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the terror attacks on October 7th 2023, was killed sitting in a chair. In April Iran launched its first direct missile attack on Israel. America, Britain, France, Jordan and other Arab states contributed to Israel’s defence.
FOREIGN POLICY
What 2024 Meant for U.S. Foreign Policy
The American people had a big decision to make this year, but was there ultimately more continuity than change in their choice?
In a year dominated by headlines about the U.S. election and the seemingly stark choice presented to voters, what stands out in this collection of big reads on foreign policy is how much continuity there is between Democratic and Republican administrations in recent years.
Take, for instance, FP columnist Michael Hirsh’s essay on the consensus in Washington about a forthcoming Cold War with China. If there’s one thing politicians on both sides of the aisle agree on these days, he writes, it’s that Beijing is a belligerent force that needs to be dealt with forcefully, even aggressively.
In Catherine Osborne’s reporting, the FP columnist finds a surprising synchronicity across the Western Hemisphere in managing migration. Although this consensus emerged via negotiations between the Biden administration and Latin America, Osborne points out that even during the previous Trump administration, countries across the region found ways to work together on the issue.
What 2024 Meant for U.S. Foreign Policy
Related
Argentine President Javier Milei (from left), Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña pose for a family photo during the Mercosur summit in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Dec. 6. Eitan Abramovich/AFP via Getty Images
Latin America’s Year in Review
Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief, and happy holidays.
This week, we’re looking back at some big stories from 2024: the European Union-Mercosur trade deal, Mexico’s landmark elections, and positive economic indicators in Argentina and Brazil.
Multilateralism Produces Results
One of the biggest geopolitical events in Latin America came late in the year: the announcement that Mercosur and the European Union had finalized a trade deal that was 25 years in the making. The agreement would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones.