Japan prepares to enter the new era. The current 125th emperor Akihito will abdicate and will make way for his eldest son Naruhito.

On March 24, the first parliamentary elections happened in Thailand since 2011. They became very special because they occurred while the military junta was in power and despite political restrictions announced and held general elections into the supreme representative body of power taking into consideration basic democratic principles including freedom of speech.

On February 27-28, 2019, the negotiations between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump were held in Hanoi. It was the second summit meeting between the leaders of two earlier irreconcilable states (the first summit was conducted in Singapore in June 2018). There were many expectations from this meeting as both sides were interested in its success.

On November 6, 2018, the midterm elections happened in the US: Americans elected the members of the US Congress, 35 Senators and 35 Governors.

The beginning of December 2017 turned out to be full of unusual events on the global political stage. The most unexpected event was the statement by the President of the United States D. Trump on recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as well as on the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv (later on the same day, Trump signed a waiver delaying the move of the U.S. Embassy for another six months).

On October 26, 2017, Thailand said goodbye to its King Bhumibol Adulyadej – Rama IX. The epoch of 70 years of the King’s reign is over and the country faces considerable changes which can radically reverse domestic policy as well as amend a political image of the country.

It seems that in Chinese analytics the odd Congresses of the ruling Communist Party of China are about interim events where the running “generation of leaders” gets rid of the predecessors on the one hand, and starts to prepare the transition of power, on the other hand.

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. Congress approved the new U.S. ambassador to Russia.

Successful nuclear missile tests in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in August and September 2017 allow to speak about significant scientific and technological progress of North Korea. Unlike previous cases, the missiles overcame the territory of Japan this time. Pyongyang announced that test demolition of the nuclear weapon at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site on 2 September, which is located 200 km from the border of the Primorye Region, is the thermonuclear weapon test.

On May 26, 2017, Zbigniew Brzezinski, patriarch of the American political idea, National Security Advisor of the 39th President of the US Jimmy Carter, passed away.