RAMSES 2025. Between Powers and Powerlessness
Never before have there been so many powers able to upset the international balance of power, and never before have the dominant powers seemed so powerless to counter the fragmentation of the world.
The Middle East: the recomposition announced decades ago seems further away than ever in the tangle of battles and influences: the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, even Russia, China or the Europeans – who could carry enough weight to help resolve an Israeli-Palestinian problem that has returned, in blood, to the forefront of the news? Who could help redraw the balance for regional peace?
The United States: dominant power, unquestionably; but how is its diplomatic, military, economic and cultural domination exercised? The disorder of the presidential campaign shows us a country in the throes of questioning its role in the world, hesitating about the areas of its commitment, and above all divided, uncertain about the stability and coherence of its own society...
The European Union: for its part, the EU is trying to put on a brave face, to reassure itself of its ability to meet the challenges that are piling up: the war in Ukraine, the economic slowdown, technological competition, the energy transition... But are its unity and its decisions equal to what lies ahead: the debate on enlargement, the recovery of Ukraine, the organization of security across the continent...?
Ramses 2025 characterizes this fundamental instability of the world, this fragmentation of strategic spaces, through three opening chapters: “Middle East: the never-ending recomposition”; “United States: the worrying empire”; “European Union: a frustrated destiny”; and through a global tour of upcoming crises and events: the Caucasus, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, New Caledonia, maritime flows, food issues, migration, the Olympics...
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Author(s)
Thierry de MONTBRIAL
Founder and Executive Chairman of Ifri - Member of the Institut de France (Académie des Sciences morales et politiques)
Dominique DAVID
Chair of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ), Advisor to the Executive Chairman, Editor-in-chief of Politique étrangère and co-Director of Ramses
Related centers and programs
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Turkey/Middle East Program
Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.
The programme has the following objectives:
- Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
- Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
- Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
- Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.
The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.
Americas Program
Ifri's work on the Americas region focuses mainly on the United States. Indeed, for more than 20 years, Ifri's Americas Program has provided keys to understanding American society and domestic policy while shedding light on developments in the country's foreign policy, including transatlantic relations and trade issues.
Since 2023, a specific axis on Latin America structures more actively Ifri's research on this region.
Ifri's Canada program was active in 2015 and 2016.
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