The Real Sikandar of 2025 Is Not Trump, Putin or Xi—It Is ...

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MANISH ANAND argues that AI, not any world leader, emerged as the most powerful force of 2025—reshaping geopolitics, markets, war, crime, and the future of governance

By TRH World Desk

New Delhi, December 30, 2025 — Who is the Sikandar of 2025? Is it Donald Trump, who returned to the White House rewriting America’s global posture?

Vladimir Putin, who forced the West into strategic fatigue after years of war?

Xi Jinping, who tightened China’s grip on global supply chains and technology? Or Narendra Modi, consolidating power and influence within India?

All these answers sound reasonable. And yet, they miss the real victor of 2025.

“The most powerful entity of this year is not a person, party, or country. It is Artificial Intelligence,” said Manish Anand in his year-end analysis for the YouTube channel of the Raisina Hills on the biggest disruptor of 2025.

Measured not in speeches but in data, capital, disruption and impact, AI, Anand said, has quietly conquered every strategic domain—economy, geopolitics, warfare, finance, crime, and even democracy itself.

“You may like it or fear it, but 2025 belonged to AI. Across the United States and Europe, a full-blown AI arms race is underway. Governments are no longer spectators; they are combatants,” stressed Anand.

The geopolitical analyst stated that “whoever controls artificial intelligence will control future diplomacy, military superiority, economic leverage and narrative power. This reality is no longer theoretical—it is operational.”

“Big Tech has turned into Big Arms. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is burning cash to corner AI talent globally. Google, OpenAI, Elon Musk’s xAI—each wants dominance, not participation,” noted Anand. He added that “a striking example is 19-year-old Alexander Wang’s Scale AI, where Meta reportedly paid $49 billion for a 49% stake—not for the company, but for the human intelligence behind it.”

In today’s market, AI talent is priced like gold, he added.

“China, meanwhile, is not chasing—it is executing. With state-backed AI firms, tight political control, and strategic clarity, Beijing is deploying artificial intelligence across surveillance, warfare, and global trade,” warned Anand. He added that “the Chinese model fuses AI with state power—making its geopolitical implications far more consequential than Silicon Valley’s profit-driven race.”

Globally, nearly $100 billion-plus investments are pouring into AI ecosystems. Stock markets reward anything remotely connected to artificial intelligence. Valuations soar, bubbles inflate—but power consolidates.

And then there is India. “While the world fights for AI supremacy, India’s AI story remains disturbingly defensive. Instead of leading innovation, much of AI’s visible impact here is in digital fraud, deepfakes, voice cloning and cybercrime,” noted Anand.

Official data, he said, shows that nearly ₹24,00 crore was siphoned off in one year through AI-enabled digital frauds. “Senior citizens and women are the most vulnerable targets,” Anand stated.

Political misuse has already begun—AI-generated videos, fake voices, manipulated images. Law enforcement struggles to keep pace. Cross-border cybercrime networks—from China, Southeast Asia and beyond—operate with alarming ease.

“This contrast is stark. While the West and China debate AI dominance, India debates damage control,” added Anand.

The uncomfortable truth is this: AI rewards preparedness, not population. “Without serious investment, regulatory clarity, talent retention and ethical safeguards, India risks becoming a consumer—and victim—of AI, not a shaper of it,” warned Anand.

2025 has delivered its verdict. Artificial Intelligence is no longer a tool. It is power itself.

“Those who command it will command the future. Those who don’t will merely react,” stressed Anand, adding: “The Sikandar of 2025 has already won. The rest of the world is still deciding whether to catch up—or surrender.”