Here is a summary of the most important events that unfolded last month, and which may affect economic, financial and geopolitical issues in the months ahead:

North America

On October 6th, US President Donald Trump withdrew troops from Syria despite a Turkish offensive against US Kurdish allies in Northern Syria. In response to Turkey’s incursion, President Trump signed an executive order to impose sanctions on top members of the Turkish government, threatening to intensify sanctions if Turkey fails to negotiate an official ceasefire agreement. Just a few days ago, the US House of Representatives approved a stinging sanctions bill against Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemns the bill and vows to keep fighting in Syria.

President Trump confirmed the death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was killed in a US raid in Syria. Despite the victory, world leaders have warned that the Islamic State remains a significant threat. There is renewed fear of an IS emergence after over a hundred IS prisoners escaped from Syrian prisons. Many of the Kurdish forces guarding the Syrian prisons which are filled with tens of thousands of IS militants have left their posts to fight the Turkish onslaught.

The US House of Representatives will vote on Thursday, October 31st, to formalize impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Several people have come forward to testify about President Trump’s controversial call with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The impeachment proceedings center around a whistleblower complaint that President Trump pressured the Ukrainian President to investigate Democratic candidate Joe Biden by freezing $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.

After President Trump declared that talks with the Taliban were dead just over a month ago, the US has moved to restart peace talks with the Taliban. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited Afghanistan and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has met with Afghan officials. The Taliban has also voiced support for resuming peace talks.

The US and China have seemed to make progress in trade talks this past month. A rough framework has been created by US and Chinese officials including a Chinese agreement to purchase $40-50 billion American agriculture products in exchange for the US forgoing a planned increase in tariffs. However, China has been displeased with US condemnation of China’s various human rights abuses including the treatment of Hong Kong protestors and Muslim minorities. Whether this will throw a wrench in trade talks has yet to be clearly seen.

Europe

The draft deal between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was approved by European Union (EU) and British lawmakers but rejected his request to push it through by October 31st. The EU granted Johnson a Brexit extension to January 31st. In an effort to break the Brexit deadlock, lawmakers in the House of Commons supported a bill to hold a general election on December 12th. Prime Minister Johnson is betting his Conservative Party can win a parliamentary majority.

Protests have broken out in Barcelona over the jailing of Catalan separatist leaders. Clashes between riot police and protestors have grown violent over the last week. President of Catalonia, Quim Torra, has called for talks with the Spanish government.

The US has imposed tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods after the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of the US in a long-running dispute over European loans to the company Airbus.

Mario Draghi led his last monetary policy meeting as President of the European Central Bank. He leaves the bank divided over his policies. Some members of the bank believe Draghi’s easing money policies have set the stage for a financial crisis while Draghi himself has insisted that stimulus was needed. Draghi’s predecessor, Christine Lagarde has a looming task ahead of her.

Asia-Pacific

Protests are still ablaze in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy protest leader Jimmy Sham was attacked, prompting Amnesty International to launch an investigation. In addition, Beijing is planning to replace Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam. Local elections will be held in November, however, pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been barred from running in the elections. The government bases its decision on their claim that Wong has supported self-determination for the territory.

India and Pakistan have exchanged fire over the region of Kashmir yet again. In order to tighten its control over the region, India will formally split up the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state into two federal territories. Clashes erupted in Indian-administered Kashmir as members from the European Parliament, including far-right deputies, paid a visit this past week as the first delegation to be granted access to the region since its security lockdown nearly three months ago. Critics say this is a ploy by India’s nationalist government to paint a picture to the world that everything is normal in Kashmir.

The Prime Ministers of South Korea and Japan met this month to engage in talks about how to improve the “severe state” of their bilateral ties. A trade dispute over the last few months has strained the relationship between the two countries.

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