ISA Monthly Issues to Watch - November 2025
Here are six of the main trends and developments that ISA will be covering in November 2025.
The US and China Need More Dialogue
The world’s most important bilateral relationship, that between the United States and China, has been allowed to deteriorate to a dangerous level in recent years. Quite simply, there has been too little dialogue between the world’s two dominant powers. That is why the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was so important. Sure, it didn’t solve most of the disputes between the two superpowers, but it did serve to reduce immediate tensions. Still, this needs to be the start of what should become a regular series of meetings between US and Chinese officials to discuss the wide range of geopolitical, economic and technological disputes between the two countries. If this doesn’t happen, tensions between the US and China are likely to deteriorate further, to the detriment of global stability and security.
What We Learned from the Third Quarter of 2025
Several leading economies have released their results for economic growth in the third quarter of this year and so far, the results have been a little better than expected. China’s economy grew by 4.8% on a year-on-year basis, and while this was a lower rate of growth than in the first half of 2025, it was a little higher than expected. Likewise, the 1.3% economic growth in the Eurozone also was slightly above expectations, despite poor results in Germany and Italy. South Korea’s economy also pulled out of its recent slump in the third quarter. One economic result that is missing is that from the United States, as it has been delayed due to the government shutdown there, but when released it is expected to show a strong result from the US economy.
Stalemate in Ukraine
While there has been progress at ending, or suspending, several conflicts around the world, one conflict continues to rage at full speed, the war between Russia and Ukraine. On the diplomatic front, Russia has stymied efforts to bring an end to the war, rejecting calls from the United States, Europe and others to agree to a ceasefire. On the front line, Russian offensives this year have gained little ground, but it has recently launched a new effort to win control of the strategic city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, forcing Ukraine to reinforce its front line around that city. Meanwhile, another winter of war is approaching, with Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in tatters, and Russia’s being slowly degraded by Ukrainian drone strikes.
Is There Hope for Europe’s Economy?
There have been mixed signals in recent weeks from the European economy. So far, Europe has struggled to generate growth in recent years, with Europe’s economy having grown by little more than 1% per year over the past 15 years. Some of these struggles have continued, with the economies of Germany and Italy stagnating, and with France facing a major financial crisis. However, other European countries have done a little better in recent months, and hopes are rising that Europe’s economy can gain a little momentum in late 2025 and early 2026, particularly as export demand has been better than expected and as Europe’s sluggish domestic market has some room to grow in the months ahead.
Have the Democrats Learned Their Lesson One Year Later?
It has been one year since Kamala Harris’ defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election in the United States and it remains unclear if the Democratic Party has learnt many lessons from this defeat. In 2024, Democrats allowed Republicans to control the narrative, while too many Democrats were focused on fringe issues that did not resonate with a majority of US voters. Now, President Trump has seen his approval ratings fall to record-low levels, but the Democrats too are suffering from very bad poll numbers. We will see who is less popular in this month’s elections in the United States. If the Democrats fail to win back some of the centrist and working-class voters that they lost in recent years, they will struggle to return to power in the years ahead.
A Massive Change to the Workforce is Coming
Slowly but surely, there are increasing signs that the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and other transformative technologies is transforming the workplace. Recent leaks from Amazon and other major organizations indicate that they plan to replace huge numbers of workers with AI and other technologies in the coming years, far more than the wave of job cuts that were recently announced. This has the potential to cause one of the greatest disruptions to the labor force since the Industrial Revolution and is likely to cause massive shifts in the economy in the years ahead. Expect to see more such job replacement announcements from major organizations in the months ahead.