History occasionally produces a turning point year when an old order ends and a new one begins to emerge.

Such years include 1789 with the French Revolution marking the shift from monarchy and feudalism to popular sovereignty and modern democracy; 1914 and the start of the first World War which catalysed the collapse of four empires, Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Russian; 1945, when the US led in establishing a global governance system which has lasted 80 years (the Pax Americana); and 1989, when the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent political changes resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Each of these examples involved mainly political change. What may make 2025 truly historic is that the political changes in the post-1945 governance order are likely to be combined with the wide-ranging, but still uncertain, economic and global sustainability implications of artificial intelligence (AI).

Ireland’s domestic and foreign policy will have to adjust to these changes. Global Ireland 2040, a review of Ireland’s future foreign policy options due in early 2026, could indicate the direction of these changes.

Priorities need to be agreed for three key aspects of policy: how will Ireland position itself to achieve maximum influence in the emerging new governance order; what can Ireland contribute to humanity’s two existential challenges by 2050 of sustainably nourishing close to 10 billion people