This summer issue of Insight Turkey aims to highlight the recent developments and challenges in the Middle East, specifically on Palesitinian-Israeli impasse, Iranian elections, and Turkey’s foreign policy and increasing influence in the region, with a rich frame including three commentaries and six research articles.

The COVID-19 crisis has probably been the most significant and consequential public health crisis the world has faced in the past century. Since the 1917 Spanish flu, this is the first time that the world has dealt a crisis of such magnitude.

There is almost a consensus among scholars and observers of world politics that we are entering a new phase in international relations. This is expected to be another period of great power rivalry.

Two trends seem to be competing with one another during the coronavirus crisis in recent weeks. On the one hand, the number of people who have been vaccinated has been increasing as of late, while on the other hand, many countries seem to be heading toward a third wave of the virus. In countries like the U.S., which has been the epicenter of the pandemic for the last 12 months, the number of those who received at least one jab reached 161 million as of April 2.

It has been more than a year since we started talking about the COVID-19 crisis. For many around the world, 2020 was a loss. Some people lost their loved ones. Others had to fight off the deadly disease themselves.

Donald Trump's election as U.S. president, a man known to most as a xenophobic, populist, far-right, ultra-nationalist, radical conservative personality, has brought to light many aspects of the country's politics that previously may have been overlooked. In this piece, I want to highlight a few of the critical problems the United States has faced since the last presidential elections.

On Wednesday, Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony is set to take place, and he will be sworn in as the 46th president of the U.S. This inauguration is unlike others in modern U.S. history, with Washington now a fortress in the wake of the Jan. 6 storming of U.S. Congress.

Joe Biden will officially become president of the United States this week. Washington, D.C., has been on high alert, even in the final days of the controversial transition period. The National Guard, which has been stationed at the Capitol Building to prevent a second attack by outgoing President Donald Trump’s supporters, became the latest symbol of America’s deeply divided democracy.

We have seen similar scenes previously only in the movies. In TV series, such as "Designated Survivor," there was an attack on the heart of the democracy in the U.S. – the U.S. Congress.

The United States is going through a particularly interesting period. The two-month presidential transition allowed for a flare-up of tensions unseen in two centuries.

llegations of a coup dominated Turkey’s political arena before the Muslim headscarf controversy could be put to bed. From a journalist’s dream of “a great natural disaster” to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to a former military commander claiming that the 1960 coup could have been avoided if an early election had been called, to the attempted birth of an opposition movement over the appointment of Boğaziçi University’s new rector, Turkey is dealing with a range of fierce debates. All of these conflicts attest to the resilience of the idea of Kemalist tutelage, which simply refuses to respect popular will.

For most people, the year 2020 will be remembered with negative developments, some of which have influenced many states and people throughout the world.

2020 was a difficult year for everyone. The two avalanches in the eastern province of Van and a major earthquake in the western province of Izmir aside, the COVID-19 pandemic altered our lives so remarkably that we could not adapt to the “new normal” – embodied by face masks and social distancing. We could not even mourn those who lost their lives. As the vaccine against the coronavirus becomes more widely available, we dream of reuniting with our friends and loved ones.

The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the year 2020, as the world encountered a great test on health care, economy and humanity. Several countries confiscated each other’s personal protective equipment (PPE) and went down in the history of shame. Against the backdrop of all the chatter about “the new normal” and “nothing will be the same again,” the truth is that power competition in the international system has escalated even further.

2021 will be an essential year for Turkey's foreign policy agenda and practice. Reforms, renewal and forward-looking perspectives are likely to be the focal points of Ankara's foreign policy this year. However, Turkey's structural challenges and diverging issues with key allies like the United States and some European countries are unlikely to see immediate resolutions.

A year ago, the world was expecting different things from the year 2020. There were already too many unknowns about world affairs. U.S. President Donald Trump and his presidential style generated too many uncertainties about U.S. foreign policy and international relations.

2020 was really an interesting year. It has influenced almost every aspect of life, including international politics. Overall, 2020 has caused vital damage to all states; no state escaped from its detrimental effects.