Strategic Survey 2020 The Annual Assessment of Geopolitics

The worst pandemic in a century tested governments, strained societies and frayed
international ties during the year to mid-2020. But there was much more to this period
than COVID-19. Climate change – another severe global challenge – grew more critical. US
President Donald Trump was impeached, the United Kingdom left the European Union, and
Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was killed.

Strategic Survey 2020 provides a comprehensive overview of major developments in every
region of the world, and in-depth analysis of key geopolitical and geo-economic issues:

War The US–Taliban agreement to end the United States’ longest war; the persistence of
other complex armed con□flicts.

Power China’s growing in□fluence, especially in Europe and the South Paci□fic; Turkey’s force
projection in the Middle East and beyond; the EU’s quest for strategic autonomy; the
new geopolitics of the Red Sea; the implications of Ethiopia’s giant dam for relations
between Nile states; the increasing use of economic sanctions as a tool of statecraft.

Rules The decline of multilateralism; prospects for arms control; key gaps in international
law; Central Asia’s connectivity; changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir; dual
legitimacy in Venezuela.

Strategic Survey 2020 also assesses a diverse range of political leaders:



Progress of three ambitious reforming presidents: Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa,
Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico.
Foreign-policy legacies of two veteran leaders: Angela Merkel and Abe Shinzo.
Trump’s challenges to both the transatlantic relationship and China.
Evolution of and prospects for Vladimir Putin’s presidency.


Strategic Survey 2020 is the indispensable guide to the events, actors and forces that de□ ned
an exceptionally complex year. It highlights the geopolitical issues that will shape the
international agenda in 2021.