The Week That Shaped the World 23–30 May 2025

1. A Monarchy in a Maple Frame

King Charles III took the podium in Ottawa this week, addressing the Canadian Parliament for the first time in half a century. The room was respectful, curious, slightly skeptical—exactly the way Canada treats anything from Buckingham Palace.

Charles spoke not as a ruler, but as a guest with excellent manners. He praised Canada’s diversity, its diplomacy, and its enduring relationship with the Crown. It was an address rooted more in reflection than reign.

But in a nation where the monarchy often feels like a decorative appendix, Charles’s visit carried an unexpected weight. Not power, but presence. In an age of noise, he spoke quietly—and that, ironically, made people listen.

What he offered wasn’t policy or promises. It was a reminder: tradition, when tempered by humility, still has a role to play. Especially when the world keeps asking what institutions are worth holding onto.

“When a monarch speaks without ruling, he becomes the witness of a nation’s conscience.”

2. Trump and the Tariff Reversal: A Judge Reminds the King

This week, a federal trade court did something rare—it ruled that a president cannot, in fact, do whatever he wants. Trump’s sweeping tariffs were declared illegal. An old-fashioned overreach, clipped back by a dusty book called the Constitution.

The court’s logic was clear: Congress—not the executive—holds the power of the purse. But logic rarely survives long in Washington. Trump’s team, already deep in campaign theatre, dismissed the decision and promised new trade deals to distract the faithful.

For many businesses, this was overdue. Small manufacturers hit by supply-chain chaos, retailers battered by rising costs, and farmers caught in retaliatory tariffs finally got a sliver of vindication. But justice delayed rarely feels like justice at all.

Politically, the ruling lands at a delicate moment. Trump is already painting himself as the rebel outsider once again, claiming the deep state fears his brilliance. In truth, the court simply did its job. It told a powerful man: not like this.

But don’t expect contrition. Expect counterattack. In Trump’s world, legality is just another narrative to control. And if he can’t win in court, he’ll win on a podium.

“When the emperor trips over the law, he calls it a conspiracy.” 

3. The Empty Chair at Shangri-La

It wasn’t the sound of boots or jets that made headlines in Asia this week—it was a missing man. China’s defence chief, Dong Jun, simply didn’t show up to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. A snub? A strategy? Perhaps both.

In diplomatic circles, absence is a language. And Beijing speaks it fluently. The official excuse was a scheduling conflict. The unofficial message: we don’t debate our power—we impose it.

Washington noticed. So did Tokyo, Canberra, and every capital, balancing between trade with China and fear of its shadow. These security forums aren’t where wars begin—but they are where wars might be delayed.

By skipping the table, China showed the cards it didn’t bring. No interest in dialogue. No room for compromise. Just presence by omission. It’s a tactic that’s growing familiar, as Beijing withdraws from stages it can’t direct.

But silence has consequences. Allies get nervous. Rivals get braver. And the narrative begins to write itself—one where China stands alone, and the rest start making other plans.

“When you stop showing up, people stop waiting.” 

4. Berlin Cuts the Leash

Germany did something this week it hasn’t done in generations: it handed Ukraine a longer leash. Chancellor Friedrich Merz lifted the range restrictions on German-supplied weapons, allowing Kyiv to strike further, harder, deeper. It was both a technical change and a tectonic one.

No more caveats. No more whispered limits. After the latest Russian drone blitz, Berlin’s patience expired. In the past, Germany played the cautious ally, serious, sincere, but restrained. Now it has shifted into something more decisive, and perhaps, more dangerous.

The message is aimed in two directions: east to Moscow, and west to Washington. To Putin, it says, “we’re no longer your polite neighbour.” To Trump, preoccupied with tariff battles and domestic theatrics, it says: “We’re not waiting for instructions.”

Berlin’s move also signals a broader transformation inside Europe. The post-war guilt that once stifled German assertiveness is being replaced by a new doctrine—strategic clarity. Germany, it seems, has learned that history can’t always be therapy.

“When Germany stops measuring range, someone else starts measuring risk.” 

5. A Pause in the Fire: Israel Weighs Peace at Gunpoint

Sixty days. That’s the window now dangling over Gaza and Jerusalem. The ceasefire deal, crafted with Washington’s invisible ink, is a diplomatic patchwork stitched over an open wound. Netanyahu accepted it—at least officially. The plan includes the partial release of Israeli hostages and the return of eighteen bodies. A grim arithmetic of war.

Hamas, meanwhile, does what it always does when the cameras are off—it thinks. Their answer is pending, likely trapped between strategic utility and pride. On paper, the proposal looks like progress. On the ground, it feels more like a pause between shellings.

Washington’s fingerprints are everywhere, yet its voice is curiously soft. This is not 1993. Nobody’s shaking hands on a White House lawn. The world, dulled by repetition, barely registers what should be history. It just scrolls past.

Still, a pause—even one this fragile—is not nothing. Netanyahu, boxed in politically and facing mounting anger at home, needs a breather. The war, for all its righteousness in his rhetoric, has dragged on. His base is restless. His critics are sharpening their knives.

The ceasefire buys time. That’s all. No one really believes in a breakthrough, least of all the people burying their dead. But in a region where timing is everything, sixty days can be a lifetime or a countdown.

“When diplomacy comes with a timer, peace becomes a transaction.” 

6. India Outpaces the Pack

While the West slouches into uncertainty, India marches. This week, the Reserve Bank of India confirmed the country remains the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The numbers are solid, not spectacular—but in 2025, solid is a luxury.

Exports are humming. Domestic consumption is steady. Manufacturing, while uneven, is no longer a punchline. And despite all its messy politics, India seems to have found a rhythm that other democracies envy.

Yes, inequality persists. Infrastructure groans. Corruption hasn’t packed its bags. But the broader momentum is real. International investors are paying attention—and increasingly, they’re paying in rupees.

What sets India apart is not just growth, but resilience. The country absorbs shocks, shrugs off forecasts, and keeps moving. It’s less a miracle, more a muscle.

“When the rest of the world stumbles, India keeps dancing.” 

7. Britain’s 1.2%: A Rounding Error with a Flag

The IMF has nudged the UK’s growth forecast up to 1.2%, and in Whitehall, you’d think we’d just discovered oil. Ministers spun the decimal point into headlines, while economists squinted and asked, “Is that it?”

The truth is less glossy. Inflation is still hot. Wages are still stuck. The cost-of-living crisis hasn’t gone anywhere, except deeper into people’s overdrafts. But in a political season where perception matters more than reality, this upgrade is being sold as proof of “resilience.”

It’s a curious kind of triumphalism: celebrating not falling as hard as expected. Yet perhaps in this economic climate, treading water qualifies as swimming.

For businesses, it’s a shrug. For households, it’s a frown. But for the Chancellor? It’s a photo op.

“In Britain, even a whisper of good news gets a brass band.” 

8. Apple, Europe, and the Tariff Tinderbox

It started as a threat, the kind of offhand remark Donald Trump has made a career out of. But this time, it carried weight: 25% tariffs on iPhones made abroad, 50% on a broad range of European goods. As usual, it was framed as “America First.” But it felt more like: “America Alone.”

Apple is a curious target. One of America’s most beloved brands, but also its most globalised. Assembly lines in China, rare earths from Africa, software engineers in Hyderabad—and now, potentially, punitive taxes at home.

The move, if enacted, would rattle supply chains from Shenzhen to Silicon Valley. Consumers would feel it quickly. That sleek, overpriced rectangle in your pocket? Add a few hundred dollars. And for Europe? Wine, cars, machinery—suddenly on the endangered imports list.

Behind the bluster is a deeper signal: Trump’s trade war is not just with adversaries. It’s with the idea of interdependence itself. Global trade, once the darling of American diplomacy, is now portrayed as theft with a smile.

European leaders are preparing countermeasures. Apple’s lobbyists are working overtime. And investors are watching with clenched jaws, because markets hate drama—especially this kind.

But Trump knows one thing better than most: outrage is currency. Even bad headlines keep him in the centre of the page.

“When you tariff your own icons, you’re not taxing China—you’re taxing confidence.” 

9. The Fed Blinks—And So Do We

This week, Jerome Powell did what central bankers rarely do—he got personal. Behind the carefully enunciated jargon, the message was clear: the U.S. economy is showing signs of fatigue.

Growth, while still present, is slowing. Consumer spending is no longer the exuberant engine it was post-pandemic. Hiring has softened. Confidence metrics are twitching like nervous eyelids. And inflation? Not dead—just lurking behind the curtain, waiting for a cue.

Powell didn’t announce a rate cut, but his tone said enough. The Fed is watching, hesitating, calibrating. Interest rates might not rise further, but they also won’t fall quickly. The balancing act continues—tight enough to tame inflation, loose enough to avoid choking what life is left in the recovery.

The markets, as usual, read between every syllable. The S&P twitched. The dollar yawned. Gold sat up in bed. Wall Street traders now live by Powell’s eyebrows.

What’s striking is how political this has all become. Economic indicators used to be the territory of technocrats. Now, they’re front-page fodder. Biden wants growth to sing through November. Trump wants a collapse—ideally televised. And the Fed? It just wants to survive the election season without becoming the story.

But it already is. Because in 2025, a single phrase—"the data suggests moderation"—can shift billions.

“When the Fed whispers, the whole world leans in.” 

10. A Pause That Paid Off

Sometimes, nothing is the headline. This week, Washington’s decision to delay new tariffs on European imports until July 9th was enough to send global markets into a celebratory tailspin.

The FTSE 100, DAX, and S&P 500 all climbed. Not because of growth or innovation, but because the hammer didn’t drop, at least not yet. It’s the kind of relief that says more about fear than about strength.

For investors, the tariff delay signaled stability, however temporary. For exporters on both sides of the Atlantic, it brought a few more weeks of clarity in a year defined by erratic policy swings.

The Biden administration framed the move as “a window for negotiation.” European leaders called it “welcome but insufficient.” Meanwhile, the machinery of diplomacy turned quietly, hoping that delay might lead to de-escalation, or at least less embarrassment.

This isn’t a resolution. It’s a reprieve. A commercial ceasefire in a trade war that never officially began but keeps finding new battlefields.

Still, markets cheer even illusions. For them, no news is good news, and in this case, richly profitable.

“When chaos is the norm, inaction becomes a strategy.”