‘I’ve reported on more than 40 wars around the world during my career, which goes back to the 1960s. But I’ve never seen a year quite as worrying as 2025,’ writes John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor. The figures for 2025, due to be announced this spring, are expected to confirm the trend: the world is rearming at great speed. To be powerful in such a brutal world, we must act faster and stronger,’ declared French President Emmanuel Macron in his address to the armed forces on 15 January this year. There are many theories, but one is dominant: four years after Russia’s invasion, the more or less deadlocked situation in Ukraine could (…)