After around 70 countries have held presidential or parliamentary elections in 2025, with few surprises in the results at the polls, which disputes will attract the most attention in 2026. And what kind of changes in global geopolitics can these clashes of ideas bring or consolidate. Some international study centers have detailed their perceptions in recent weeks and the InfoMoney consolidated these analyses.
CIDOB, an international relations research center based in Barcelona, highlighted that the year that will begin will be one of global rearrangement, after the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration inaugurated what the center’s experts classified as an era of instrumentalization of economic and technological coercion.
“The new year will test the ability to adapt to deal with brutal geopolitics: who wins, who will find accommodation or favorable moments to influence a chaotic order, who resists and who feels displaced, without the tools or leadership to face change,” wrote CIDOB.
Continues after advertising
The think tank also highlighted that military interventionism is increasing and that even peace has become an asset with economic returns. In addition to the global race by major actors – such as the US, China and the European Union – to diversify alliances in uncertain times, the center also noted that a “generational fatigue” has shaken half the world.
Another characteristic of recent years that should remain in 2026 is that called generation Z, those born approximately between the mid-1990s and 2010, are mobilizing in several countries and continents to demand changes in imperfect, corrupt and unequal political systems. Protests and disturbances were cited in places including Nepal, Madagascar, Morocco, Peru, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
“All these protests are a sign of the population’s growing impatience in the face of the growing gap between expectations and reality. Therefore, the question is whether 2026 will bring new unexpected outbreaks,” commented CIDOB.
In the assessment of The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the elections scheduled for 2026 will certainly repeat the mix between expected and unexpected. An example of what should not come as a surprise is the result of the State Duma elections in Russia, with the pro-Putin United Russia Party maintaining its majority. And Vietnam’s legislative elections, in turn, will almost certainly confirm the Communist Party’s victory.
See below some of the most important elections in 2026
South America
After important victories for right-wing forces on the continent in 2025 — cases of Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, José Antonio Kast in Chile, the re-election of Daniel Noboa in Ecuador and the strengthening of Javier Milei in the parliamentary dispute in Argentina —, the new year could consolidate this wave once and for all.
Continues after advertising
On April 12th, general elections take place in Perua country that has made political instability its main hallmark: there have been no less than seven presidents since 2016 — three of them were removed by Congress and two resigned. The most recent episode occurred in October, when Dina Boluarte was replaced by José Jerí. The highlights among the various potential presidential candidates are Rafael López-Aliaga, Keiko Fujimori, Mario Vizcarra, Carlos Álvarez and César Acuña.
The presidential election of Colombia is scheduled for May 31st. President Gustavo Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. But it would be a difficult victory anyway, after a presidency marked by corruption scandals, problems implementing terms of the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, and direct verbal clashes with the United States.
Amid Petro’s decline in popularity, the country is still traumatized by the assassination of opposition senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a natural candidate for 2026.
Continues after advertising
Petro’s Historic Pact Party nominated Senator Iván Cepeda as its candidate, and he has been leading polls, but without an advantage that could be considered unbeatable. His main opponents will probably be Sergio Fajardo, a centrist who is running for the third time in a row, and the right-wing conservative Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer who campaigns against corruption and for family values.
In October, it will be the turn of the Brazil choose the new president, governors and renew part of the Senate and the entire Chamber of Deputies. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be a candidate for the seventh time and will seek an unprecedented fourth term.
Although it is leading in most polls, the political scene remains very polarized. Without Jair Bolsonaro in the race, Lula may have Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, as his main opponent. But the governors of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, are still in the running; from Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema; from Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado, and from Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite; and from Paraná, Ratinho Jr.
Continues after advertising
USA (mid-term)
Midterm elections, when the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate of USA will be up for grabs on November 3 and should serve as an indicator of President Donald Trump’s popularity. For the CFR, the results could drastically change the course of local politics.
According to the Center for International Relations, the mid-term vote for the Chamber generally functions as a referendum on the incumbent president, with voters historically being rigorous evaluators. The president’s party has expanded its seats in the House in only two of the last fifteen midterm elections. Meanwhile, the average loss was twenty-four seats.
Republicans currently have just a seven-seat margin in the House. This was one of the reasons why Trump pressured states like Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, among others, to redraw their electoral maps to win more Republican seats. Some Democratic states are currently trying to do the same.
Continues after advertising
In the Senate, Republican chances are greater: there are 35 seats up for grabs and the Republican Party needs to defend 24 seats, but in 22 of these states, Trump won by 10 percentage points or more in the 2024 election.
The biggest problem is the dissatisfaction of the electorate. About 60% of them say the country is heading in the wrong direction and say economic anxiety is high. There is an affordability crisis, a rising cost of living, stagnant wages and growing fears that artificial intelligence could destroy more jobs than it creates.
Bangladesh
The February 12th election in Bangladesh it will be the first since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League government were removed from power in August 2024 due to student-led protests. The 2026 electoral field is fragmented, and parties disagree over electoral rules and their application. Two conservative nationalist parties are vying for leadership: the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, and Jatiyo, led by GM Quader. The BNP was the main opposition party when Sheikh Hasina was in power and was the target of her repression. Jamaat-e-Islami seeks to lead a coalition of Islamist parties pushing for constitutional reforms and presents a slate of new candidates to signal generational change. Meanwhile, the National Citizen’s Party is campaigning on a promise to create a “Second Republic” based on a new constitution.
Hungary
Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary and longest-serving leader in the European Union, is expected to face his first serious challenge at the polls on April 12, after having obtained absolute majorities four times in a row for his right-wing party, the radical and eurosceptic Fidesz. Leading the polls since autumn 2024 is Respect and Freedom (TISZA), a pro-European conservative party founded in 2020 and which rose to prominence under the leadership of MEP Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz member who now calls Orbán a “dictator” and “mafioso”. The campaign will likely focus on inflation, energy costs and slow economic growth. The question is whether the opposition, which has fallen into disarray after the 2022 election, can capitalize on public dissatisfaction.
Sweden
The general elections in Sweden on September 13 have been treated as an indicator of the strength of populist politics in Europe, as well as a gauge of the impact of foreign influence campaigns. The country has been governed since 2022 by a center-right coalition led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and made up of the Moderate, Swedish Democrats, Christian Democrats and Liberal parties. But the government has faced a rise in gang violence, as well as debates over immigration and citizenship rules, issues that were responsible for bringing Kristersson to power. The main issues of the campaign should be rapid military rearmament after the country’s entry into NATO (2024), fiscal policy, the increase in narcocrime and immigration control.
Israel
Unless an early vote takes place, on October 27th Israelis must elect the new Knesset, the unicameral legislative assembly of Israel. Even after facing a severe reputational crisis for the erratic handling of the Hamas hostage situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party are the favorites. With the unconditional support of Donald Trump and a firm management of the war in Gaza, in addition to the conduct of the armed conflict with Iran, Netanyahu must still use the current ceasefire agreement to his advantage. Neither his trial for corruption nor the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity have managed to dent majority Israeli support for the prime minister’s views.
France and United Kingdom
Local elections are scheduled for March 15th and 22nd in France when mayors and members of municipal councils will be chosen and, in the case of large cities, metropolitan or district councils. In cities such as Paris, Marseille or Lyon, changes will be made to separate voting between central and district councils, breaking with the previous system. This is expected to provoke a greater division between metropolitan and local power. The results will be an indication before the next national elections, scheduled for 2027.
No United Kingdommore than 4,000 city council seats in England will be up for grabs on May 7, including seats in London’s 32 boroughs. There is an expectation that there could be a repeat of the May 2025 local election results, which brought a victory to Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s right-wing national-populist party. Defeated, Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s Labor Party are suffering in the polls.
