Here’s Who Will Be the Next North Korean Dictator and Other Predictions for 2026

The year 2025 was quite something for seers. We knew Elon Musk would leave Washington and that President Trump would back the Jihadist Syrian regime. Israeli hostages were indeed released. The Dodgers won the World Series and the Knicks made the NBA’s post-season.We prematurely predicted the deaths of Ayatollah Khamanei and Mahmoud Abbas. On TV, we hoped to watch the third season of “Tehran,” but Apple Plus just announced that it would finally air it on the coming January 7. Other predictions were not even close, so on to 2026.Regime ChangesGrowing turmoil in Iran’s streets and signs of Mr. Khamanei’s deepening dementia will make their mark. Hardline Revolutionary Guards types will fight for power among themselves, but secular-oriented Iranian majorities will have had enough. After 46 years, the Khomeinist Islamic Republic will be gone and the Mideast will sigh in relief.President Trump’s pressure will finally force Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro into exile in Qatar. As American business pours in, Nobelist Maria Corina Machado will replace the Bolivarian Republic with a thriving democratic regime. Mr. Abbas’s designated heir, Hussein al-Sheikh, will struggle to hold on to power. With Hamas gunmen attempting to seize power violently at Ramallah, Israel will intervene and place all of Judea and Samaria under military rule, leading to the Palestinian Authority’s demise.PoliticsRepublicans will lose the majority in the House, but widen their control of the Senate. Governor Kathy Hochul will beat Bruce Blakeman in New York State. In California, a barely recognized Hollywood actor, registered as a Republican, will beat Governor Gavin Newsom’s Democratic heir.New York CityAfter a good start, Mayor Zohran Mamdani will clash with police commissioner Jessica Tisch and fire her over an NYPD raid to stop Hamas supporters’ drive to oust Jewish students from the Columbia University campus. Crime statistics will soar. AsiaCalculating that a People’s Liberation Army’s invasion of Taiwan would fail and hurt the Communist regime’s economy, President Xi Jinping will put on hold his long-anticipated “reunification” of China. As he had long promised, though, the Beijing party boss will try to usurp Free China again in 2027. Mr. Trump will finally ease tariffs on India and sign a trade deal with Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan’s hawkish premier, Sanae “Thatcher” Takaichi, will then consolidate a powerful American-led anti-Beijing economic and military Asian bloc. At Pyongyang, after suffering a heart attack, Kim Jong Un will transfer power to his 13-year-old daughter, Kim Ju Ae, but the current emperor’s ruthless sister, Kim Yo Jong, will be the de-facto dictator. EuropeAfter reluctantly signing a war-ending deal to turn the east of Ukraine into a non-militarized zone, President Volodymyr Zelensky will resign, pending a 2027 national election. He will best Mr. Trump, though, by winning the Nobel peace prize at the end of the year.In Britain, a Labour Party coup against Prime Minister Keir Starmer will lead to a snap election. The Kemi Badenoch-led Tories will narrowly beat Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. United NationsCosta Rica’s Rebecca Grynspan will edge out Argentina’s Rafael Grossi in the secretary general race. Following this month’s deal to cut to $2 billion American annual contributions to UN humanitarian agencies, Washington will further slash UN funding. The top Palestinian aid body, UNRWA, will dissolve after several countries join America in defunding it, and after Israel’s shut down of all its offices. IsraelReports on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal involvement in facilitating Qatari funds to some of his top aides will weaken the premier’s political prowess. In the September election, his Likud party will win far fewer than the 32 Knesset seats it captured in 2022, paving the way to a Naftali Bennett premiership. Bibi’s trials will end in exoneration, and he will retire as Israel’s most consequential leader since David Ben Gurion. MoviesNo one will watch them while made-for-TV series become Hollywood’s top earners. SportsIn a New York banner year, the Yankees will edge the Dodgers in a seven-game World Series and the Knicks will win their first NBA title since 1973. The Giants will have a good start next season, but will stumble early in the 2027 post-season. The Los Angeles Rams will win the 2026 Super Bowl. As always, if even one of these predictions comes true, please credit the author for his far-sightedness.

Here’s Who Will Be the Next North Korean Dictator and Other Predictions for 2026

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