Annual review: Ten quotes: What moved international politics in 2024

Much of what is said on the international stage is only intended for the day. But some things make you think. Ten quotes about what dominated international politics this year:

“He recognizes weakness like an animal, because he is an animal (…). And he will eat you all, including your EU, NATO, freedom and democracy.”

(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with British magazine The Economist published on January 1, in which he warns the West against showing weakness against Russian President Vladimir Putin.)

“Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair and we fear what comes next.”

(Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN emergency relief office Ocha, on February 2nd about the situation of the people in the completely overcrowded Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.)

“If we don’t have an agreement, we will do it anyway. It must be done. Because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach.”

(Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted a victory over the Islamist Hamas within weeks in the Gaza war on the US television network CBS’s “Face the Nation” broadcast on February 25.)

“From the Middle East to Haiti, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Afghanistan and elsewhere, women are paying the highest price for conflicts not of their own making.”

(Communication from the UN women’s organization UN Women on March 8th on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Progress in equality between women and men is threatened by an increasing number of wars and conflicts.)

“Nothing should stand in the way of saving our democracy. Not even personal ambition. That’s why I have decided that the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.”

(US President Joe Biden on July 25 in a speech to the nation on his withdrawal from the presidential race. He proposes Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.)

“In Springfield they eat the dogs, the people who came here, they eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there.”

(The future US President and then presidential candidate Donald Trump spread racist lies about migrants during the television debate against his then Democratic rival Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on September 11th.)

“Ukraine will effectively be forced to fight North Korea in Europe.”

(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video message on October 26 in view of the possible deployment of North Korean soldiers on the side of Russia.)

“This will truly be the Golden Age of America. This is a great victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again.”

(US President-elect Donald Trump delivers his victory speech to supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6.)

“It is a gift from God. All natural resources, whether oil, gas, wind, solar, gold, silver or copper, they are all natural resources. Countries should not be blamed for having them and they should not be blamed that they bring these resources to the market because the market needs them.”

(Ilham Aliyev, President of the host country Azerbaijan, in his opening speech at the World Climate Summit in Baku on November 12th. Climate activists doubt that the ex-Soviet republic will lead the climate conference in a credible and neutral manner.)

“A peace that is not just is not peace. A peace that is not sustainable is not peace. And a peace that is not shaped by Ukraine is not real peace.”

(The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, addressed the UN Security Council in New York on November 18th on 1,000 days of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.)