This year’s edition again employs the method of analysis proceeding from the general to the particular, i.e. starting with the global, going through the regional and to the national level. The main event of the year, marking a global turning point, was the U.S. presidential vote. Joe Biden’s election as the 46th President of the United States of America heralds the return of the main geopolitical pole to defending democracy and Western values. This, in turn, has a number of implications for the relations with China and Russia, as well as for Central and Eastern Europe’s positioning on the foreign policy agenda of the transatlantic partner.

Although fraught with a number of challenges, the elapsed 2020 saw progress on one of the key knots in the Western Balkans regional tangle. The signing of the Washington Agreement could be regarded as a step towards resolving the complicated Pristina-Belgrade discord, which should not be let turn into a frozen conflict in EU’s backyard.

Covid-19 might have failed to shake strategic stability in 2020, yet a potential to do so in the medium run holds the hypersonic arms race. In order to prevent this kind of destabilization, it should be recognized that this race has already come into existence and an appropriate restrictive regime should be put in place.