Column by Ewald König

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In all the holiday greetings and New Year's wishes we have received, the old year is lamented for bringing so much bad news, and hopes are expressed for a better 2026. At least at the beginning of the year, one dares to ask the modest question: Is there nothing positive at all in foreign policy and diplomacy? Somewhere, something?

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Anyone who tries to find at least three positive messages against the mainstream will quickly realize how difficult it is. Not because it would be difficult to choose the top three among the positive reports — but to find three at all!

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It was a challenging year for diplomacy because so many red lines were crossed all over the world. International law is reduced to non-binding proposals. Diplomacy may have prevented many things, otherwise we would have had even more crises and conflicts. But the absence of a potential crisis does not count as good news yet.

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But what can be listed then? After a long search, we end up in the South Caucasus. Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have normalized for the time being. Last August, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev met with US President Donald Trump in Washington and signed a peace agreement. This ended the 37-year Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. So far, peace has lasted. That is undoubtedly good news.

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Do you remember what South Korea went through a year ago? After then-President Yoon Suk Yeol simply declared martial law, dangerously provoked North Korea, alienated the allies, plunged South Korea into a state crisis and brought it to the brink of collapse?

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Many people probably still remember the dramatic images of the conservative politician wanting to lock out members of parliament and have them removed in order to forcibly prevent them from voting on the lifting of martial law. The images showed locked-out MPs climbing over a fence to get into parliament and others using fire extinguishers to push back soldiers. Yoon wanted to cut off electricity and water to Korean media outlets to prevent them from reporting on the situation. He was so annoyed by the ongoing dispute over the national budget that he accused the opposition of collaborating with North Korea and used this as justification for declaring martial law. It is unbelievable what Yoon apparently allowed himself to be talked into by a right-wing extremist shaman.

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Fortunately, these disturbing, dramatic events ended positively. The president has been deposed, faces multiple charges and faces a long prison term. The real positive thing about the events, however, is the behavior of the population: They reacted quickly and massively. Young Koreans in particular responded to the president's lawless actions with a series of mass demonstrations and protest rallies. Democracy, which had been suspended for a short time, was quickly restored by the Korean people. Anyone who had written off Korea under martial law was wrong. It has even emerged stronger from the crisis. And after the damage to its image a year ago, Korea is now taking on a new positive role on the international stage.

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The new President Lee Jae-myung is the opposite of his predecessor. What he has implemented in domestic and foreign policy in a short period of time is impressive. The mere way in which he professionally and charmingly wrapped the American president around his finger during a state visit to Washington is worth a separate seminar in diplomatic training. With him, Korean democracy has a new face.

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The search for a third piece of positive news, however, is stalling. If you have any ideas, please send us an email. Until then, we'll have to settle for half a point. It goes to girls and women in Iran who courageously oppose the headscarf requirement and are fighting for more freedom step by step. Unfortunately, it is only half a point, as we do not know what will happen there, whether their courage will be rewarded with success or punished with suppression.

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All in all, we are starting the new year with only two and a half pieces of good news instead of three. The situation is different with the abundance of bad news. Let's hope that at least the two and a half pieces of good news don't get lost in the shuffle.

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