Over the past few years, global politics have been reshaped by sudden shifts in power. The Taliban retook control in Afghanistan in August 2021 after US-led forces withdrew, and rebel forces in Syria toppled the Assad regime in December 2024.
Those shifts are being reflected in diplomatic networks, and our latest chart of the week shows this clearly. Some cities are gaining missions as countries deepen or restore ties. Others have lost posts amid conflicts, political upheaval or isolation.
The number of missions a country sends or hosts offers a glimpse of its diplomatic reach and priorities. But a reopening does not, on its own, prove that relations have fundamentally changed — or that the change will last.
“Reopening an embassy is a political signal, but it does not necessarily indicate a lasting shift,” says Jasmine El Gamal, founder and CEO of Averos Strategies, a think tank focused on diplomacy and geopolitics. “A reopening is therefore better understood as a sign of renewed engagement than a guarantee of lasting alignment.”
The reverse can also happen: a mission may remain open, close or move even after the political circumstances that prompted the decision have changed. As El Gamal says, such decisions “can outlast the administrations that made them even when the original intent does not necessarily apply”.
Syria has seen one of the biggest changes. After the fall of the Assad regime, several countries reopened embassies in Damascus that had been closed for years. Turkey and Qatar resumed operations in December 2024, followed by Spain in January 2025 and Germany in March 2025. Damascus recorded 12 openings between December 2024 and December 2025.
Embassies returned to Pyongyang after pandemic-era closures. From 2024 onwards, Reuters reported that many European countries began sending delegations and missions back to North Korea. Brazil, Sweden, Poland, India and Nigeria were among the countries to resume operations, while Ukraine opened a series of new missions in African cities in 2024, including Kinshasa, Abidjan, Maputo and Kigali.
Closures have been concentrated in a smaller number of cities. Kabul lost 19 diplomatic posts between 2017 and 2025, many after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Governments evacuated staff and suspended operations amid the security crisis following the takeover, and others left due to uncertainty over how to engage with the new authorities' policies. The Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls have since further complicated diplomatic relations.
Khartoum had the second-largest loss, with 14 diplomatic posts closing in the eight years to 2025. Most closures followed the outbreak of Sudan's civil war in April 2023, with governments evacuating staff and suspending operations amid security fears.
Despite the closures, the figures suggest an expanding diplomatic footprint across more regions overall. The Middle East and Africa have seen the biggest net gains, as many Western countries shift their attention toward resoutowardsch, people-power countries.