Here are some critical issues to watch around the globe over the coming month:

North America

The summit between US President Donald Trump and the leader of North Korea was abruptly called off without signing an agreement. The Trump Administration has said that North Korea was willing to close some, but not all, of its nuclear testing facilities in exchange for the lifting of all international sanctions. President Trump boarded Air Force One without signing an agreement and returned to Washington. It is not clear why the negotiations fell apart so quickly, but it can likely be attributed to the lack of diplomatic groundwork prior to the meeting.

President Donald Trump agreed to hold off on raising tariffs on Chinese goods, which would have escalated a damaging trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The president cited the progress of the ongoing talks as his reasoning. Markets reacted positively to this development, however the latest developments signify that there are many issues that remain unresolved.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave a fairly positive outlook on the state of the US economy. He has, however, began to hint at concerns about overseas growth (specifically Europe and China). Chairman Powell testified before a Senate panel that the trajectory of Brexit and the development of US-China trade talks would largely dictate the movement of interest rates, but he asserted that current economic conditions were healthy.

In December, President Trump announced the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria. However, the administration has begun to backtrack and announced that the US will leave 400 troops split between two regions: 200 at the al-Tanf base and around 200 more soldiers in north-eastern Syria as peacekeepers. The backtrack has been met with praise from European leaders and less than warm remarks from Turkish officials. The US is now trying to both withdraw and stay in Syria, and please both its partners and allies, while both Russia and Iran look on, waiting for any sign that US policy cannot do both.

Europe

Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour MPs Party in the U.K. officially support another vote on the Brexit question. Prime Minister Theresa May agreed that Parliament should have the option to seek a delay in Britain’s exit plans. A delay would prevent a disastrous hard Brexit as the deadline of March 29 approaches.

Italian bonds are outperforming their European peers after the country avoided a credit rating downgrade. A cut would have left Italy’s rating on the brink of junk status, which could have triggered selling by other institutional holders of the debt.

Asia-Pacific

Pakistan announced it will release a captured pilot from India after days of conflict stemming from India striking across the Line of Control. Pakistan shot down Indian fighters in retaliation, and many have feared the situation was reaching a boiling point. The release of the pilot offers a face-saving opportunity for each party, and we can only hope a diversion away from war.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the relocation of a US base on Okinawa Island cannot be postponed even though 72% of voters in the prefecture opposed the move in a Sunday referendum. Early construction at the new site, on the island’s northeast, began last December. The Abe Administration is well within its right to ignore the outcome of the election. The Okinawa situation is just the latest episode in the saga of the discontent of the Japanese people with US military presence. Such discontent is interesting when one considers that Shinzo Abe has expressed a desire to revise the Japanese Constitution to allow for rearmament.

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