2025’s Best Foreign-Policy Profiles

2025 was a year of major transformations, sometimes led by individual figures. US President Donald Trump naturally comes to mind. But so do the officials around him, and the world leaders adjusting to the changing global order in his wake.

In Germany, a longtime political figure became chancellor and sought to make the country a greater power on the world stage. In Hungary and Venezuela, opposition leaders have gained momentum that could bring about major change in 2026. And in Iran, a director has won global acclaim for a secretly produced film that depicts the evolution of a society that leaves little room for freedom.

2025 was a year of major transformations, sometimes led by individual figures. US President Donald Trump naturally comes to mind. But so do the officials around him, and the world leaders adjusting to the changing global order in his wake.

In Germany, a longtime political figure became chancellor and sought to make the country a greater power on the world stage. In Hungary and Venezuela, opposition leaders have gained momentum that could bring about major change in 2026. And in Iran, a director has won global acclaim for a secretly produced film that depicts the evolution of a society that leaves little room for freedom.

Below are five of the Foreign policyThe most illuminating profiles of the year.

1. New German Chancellor in the 1990s

By Alexander Clarkson, February 20

German elections last February paved the way for Friedrich Merz, a senior figure in the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to become chancellor after years of political stagnation. Since then, Merz has claimed a leadership role on the world stage, showing a more assertive Germany.

Merz sparked anger shortly after the election when he said he would vote “with everything I can” and vote with the far-right Alternative for Germany party in favor of harsh immigration measures. But as academic Alexander Clarkson writes in this dossier, critics fail to see that Merz “instinctively understands” how to win the support of conservative factions in the CDU.

To appreciate how Merz got here, Clarkson wrote, it is helpful to look at the political era that shaped him, and at the personal resentment he harbors toward former Chancellor Angela Merkel. His strategy may pose risks in the long term, but it has brought him this far.

“Merz’s rejection of the centrist approach that characterized the Merkel years attracted support from party members who believed that an emphasis on cultural conservatism would prevent right-wing voters from shifting their support to the AfD,” Clarkson writes.

2. Metternich Bronx

By Adrian Karatnicki, June 20

Among the unconventional figures shaping US foreign policy in Trump’s second term is Steve Witkoff, the former New York real estate lawyer turned real estate developer who found himself negotiating peace in Ukraine.

Analyst Adrian Karatnicki traces the first few months of Witkopf’s diplomacy, as success in securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the war between Israel and Hamas led to an expansion of his duties and de facto role as envoy to Russia.

Vitkov changed direction with Moscow: “Rather than working in close cooperation with US government experts, he ran what was essentially a one-man show. Controversially, he avoided significant engagement with the US Embassy in Moscow or the State Department in Washington,” Karatnycki writes.

Months later, Witkoff remained a newsmaker, clashing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over how to handle peace efforts in Ukraine as the year came to a close.

3. The man who could topple Orbán

By Lily Rotay, November 7

Hungary will hold parliamentary elections next April, and opinion polls are not looking good for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has ruled the country for 15 years. The candidate seeking to oust the strongman, opposition leader Peter Magyar, was a member of Orban’s Fidesz party. In just one year, he became the most popular politician in the country.

Hungarian journalist Lili Rotay captures the character behind this transformation, who recognizes the uphill battle he faces against a leader who has suppressed civil society and the press. In November, Magyar attracted 170,000 people to the streets of Budapest, nearly double the number of participants at Orbán’s rally on the same day.

“Whether Orbán holds fair elections against the Hungarians, and relinquishes power if he loses, may determine the future of democracy in Hungary,” Rutay writes.

Magyar likens his supporters to the Hungarians who fought the Ottoman army centuries ago. “Among us are young and old, living in Budapest, rural areas, in the motherland or abroad – who are fighting for their homeland and for the future of their children and grandchildren,” he told Rutay.

4. The voice of the Venezuelan opposition

By May Hogress Dahl, November 13

On October 10, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who went into hiding last year, following the disputed presidential election in which Nicolas Maduro once again claimed victory.

Machado was barred from running in that election, but journalist May Hogres Dahl followed Machado as she campaigned for her replacement, Edmundo González, in July 2024. Dahl presents a compelling portrait of Machado, once dismissed as a fringe politician, and her fight for democracy. Even those who don’t always agree with her acknowledge that Machado has served as a unique unit for those opposed to Maduro.

“During the election campaign, it was clear that the country had changed since my previous visits, when Venezuelans talked about politics only in whispers — or not at all,” Dahl writes.

Machado, who appeared in Oslo to accept the Nobel Prize this month after sneaking out of Venezuela on a boat, recently sparked controversy for saying she supports US military intervention to oust Maduro. (She dedicated her award to Trump.) Dahl’s dossier embodies the intangible reasons why Machado is likely to continue shaping global affairs in 2026.

5. Jaafar Panahi has his eyes on the future

By Amir Ahmadi Arian, December 19

It was just an accidentIt is the first film by Iranian director Jafar Panahi since his release from prison in 2023, and he is now one of the main contenders for the Oscar. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, cementing Panahi’s status as one of the most famous living directors. “Yet to many Iranians, Panahi is known as much for his defiance as for his cinema,” says Iranian writer Amir Ahmadi Arian.

Panahi’s latest work, which follows a group of prisoners who kidnap the detective who tortured them, is deeply personal. “Making films is the only thing I know how to do,” the director told Aryan. “Apart from that, I was also trying to find a way to organize the chaos in my head, and shape all the thoughts and feelings that I carried with me outside prison.”

In his profile of Panahi, Arian places this film in the context of his entire oeuvre, which is known for its resistance to prevailing conventions. He finds that, taken together, these films chart not only the director’s personal evolution but also that of Iran itself, culminating in an image of a country reshaped by the Women, Life, and Freedom movement of 2022.

It was just an accident “He is a most ambitious chapter from a filmmaker who has spent three decades testing the limits of cinema and the limits of expression,” Arian writes.