❗ Time for a brief look back at 2025. Here are 12 things that made this year special:
1️⃣ Playing Tejo, an ancient throwing game and the national sport of Colombia, in Bogota with Andres Julian Trujillo Rosero after an intense strategic foresight event with the Colombian Navy.
2️⃣ Wandering the streets of New York in the early mornings after a non-stop flight from Singapore, staying awake to be fresh for my briefing at the UN Security Council’s high-level debate on maritime security.
3️⃣ Receiving a crystal ball as a gift in Singapore, which significantly improved my approach to strategic foresight.
4️⃣ Meeting the pink pigeon, Mauritius’ national endangered bird, in one of the national parks while conducting research on maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean.
5️⃣ Seeing our edited volume on global ocean regions in print completing an amazing intellectual journey with Elizabeth Mendenhall, Bec Strating and others. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031889837
6️⃣ Recognizing how many varieties of tuna dishes one can make while visiting The Maldives National University, thanks to Athaulla (‘Atho’) Rasheed.
8️⃣ Launching my new newsletter ‘Turbulent Seas’, although fewer issues were published in 2025 than originally envisioned. https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/turbulent-seas-7351865841182814208/ Watch that space!
9️⃣ Enjoying the Abu Dhabi sunset while sipping a cold brew with Brendon J. Cannon after a presentation at TRENDS Research & Advisory.
🔟 Seeing my first article published in French, though this would not have been possible without great translators at Diplomatie. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48835475
🔢 Visiting the Taj Mahal ahead of the National Maritime Foundation- NMF‘s Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue.
🔢 Recognizing that I have given close to 60 talks in 2025, including briefings to the European Council, the European Parliament, and NATO’s Operation Policy Committee. 2026 will be focused on writing!
🙏 To everyone I had the privilege of meeting in 2025: thank you for making it extraordinary. Excited to see what 2026 brings…