By: Bo Korpman

1. The Attack of September 11, 2001. On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners bound to various parts of the United States. Their mission: strike terror into the hearts of all Americans. This attack was planned and sponsored by the Middle Eastern based terrorist group Al Qaeda, which at the time was led by Osama bin Laden, a radical Muslim. The first plane was hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:43 A.M. Shortly after that, the South Tower and Pentagon were struck as well. A fourth plane was bound for another Washington D.C. target, but it was crashed by the terrorists when passengers who feared for the safety of their Capital moved to take control of the plane before it reached Washington. All in all, the country came to a complete standstill. America had never experienced an attack on the soil of the Mainland, and the loss of almost 3,000 people with 6,000 more injured was devastating. The hijackers accomplished their mission of striking fear in the short run, but America was soon back on its feet and engaged in “The War on Terror.”

 

2. The War on Terror. When the United States announced that they were engaging in a war on terror in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, much of the modern world decided to join the U.S. in the venture. A multitude of countries participated in and are still participating in this war that has raged for almost a decade. This war has encompassed many locations around the globe including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and even parts of Europe. The main purpose of this war, the elimination of Islamic (and other) terrorist forces throughout the world has not been achieved, although several significant victories have been won. These include the fall of the Ba’ath Party in Iraq, the diminution of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the destruction of a number of terrorist camps throughout the world. In this war, the casualties have, nevertheless, been horrific. The US and its allies (the counter-terrorists) have had almost 91,000 deaths; the terrorist death count is over 235,000. The rise of terrorism as a way of dealing with the world is further discussed below.

3. The Global Economic Crisis. The 2000s saw the worst global economic depression since the depression of the late 1920’s and 1930’s. On October 11, 2007, the Dow Jones and NASDAQ all declined remarkably, with the Dow Jones falling from a high of over 14,000 to a low of around 6,000. Because of the United States’ central economic position in the world, this crash not only affected the United States, but much of the world as well; other markets had similar erosions of value. Values measured in the trillions of dollars belonging to individuals, companies and governments disappeared overnight. In some countries, things were worse than in the US: for example, Iceland suffered a total economic collapse and the country effectively became bankrupt. The economies of many European countries were hurt significantly as were third world nations who depend on the first world for their economic growth. Of the many devastating domestic effects of this crisis, some of the most notable were a 10.2 percent unemployment rate, an annual 6% decrease in the output of goods and services, the bailouts of several major United States Banks, and a one trillion dollar economic stimulus package that was supported and passed by the Obama administration. The recession has been declared over by many sources, however, and it is looking like the next decade will be relatively prosperous. In fact, much of the bailout money has already been repaid (with interest) to the Federal government, years before this was expected.

 

4. Effects of Major Natural Disasters. This first decade of the new millennium was riddled with natural disasters that killed hundreds of thousands of people. On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake struck the Indian Ocean. This earthquake was one of the largest ever recorded, so large in fact, that it moved the entire earth at least 1 cm, and caused several other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. This earthquake caused a massive tsunami that sped towards Southeast Asia with waves up to 100 feet high. After the Tsunami had receded, almost 230,000 people were found dead and over 1 million more were displaced.

  On August 23, 2005, a deadly hurricane began forming over The Bahamas. Six days later, this hurricane would reach the state of Louisiana and become known as Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was one of the most expensive, destructive, and deadliest hurricanes to strike U.S. soil. It flooded over 80 percent of New Orleans and killed 1,836 people. The estimated cost of the damages was 100 billion dollars. Ultimately, this destruction was due to as much to the failure of the levees that were used to control flooding in the below sea level city as it was to the storm itself. One has to question the wisdom of constructing cities below sea level in a hurricane alley; the inadequate maintenance of the levees by the US Army Corps of Engineers was deemed the core of this issue.

5. The Rise of Terrorism. Terrorism has existed in various forms throughout much of history, but recently, with the development of small, portable, but deadly weapons, terrorism has reached new levels of intensity and deadliness. The 00’s saw a dramatic increase in terrorist activity throughout the world, mainly in the Middle East and parts of Europe. The terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas have made significant increases in not only size, but also in power. Hamas now governs the Gaza portion of the Palestinian territory and Hezbollah now has a great influence and presence in the Lebanon. But the impact of the terrorists has been felt far beyond their homes in the Arab world. The 2004 Madrid train bombings killed over 100 people; the 2005 London bombings killed almost 50 people; and the 2008 Mumbai attack killed close to 300 people. The War in Somalia, although itself a rather unnoticed event in the Western World has become a pertinent issue with the piracy that it has caused in recent times. There have been numerous attacks on tankers and other vessels that travel off the coast of Somalia. These attacks have resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses throughout the world and repeated loss of life. These are just a few examples of how terrorism has become a global issue, and how it has become a force which must be considered at virtually all times and at virtually all places. The imposition of intrusive and invasive “security-related” procedures in many facets of life (x-rays, electromagnetic screening, ID’s presented everywhere) are consequences of attempts to deal with this threat.

 

6. The Rise of New Nuclear Powers. With a world that is moving into a new era of technology and ability, it is only a matter of time until more of the world has nuclear capabilities. In many respects, nuclear capability can be practical and productive, but the potential for destruction from nuclear processes is just as strong as the potential for creation. Since the first and only use of the atomic bomb against Japan during World War II, efforts have been made by many nations to limit the ways in which nuclear technology may be utilized and who may possess this power. On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced that it had successfully performed its first test of a nuclear bomb, and since then it has performed several others. Also, Iran has made its entry into the nuclear power world and has built several nuclear fuel concentration plants, and it announced in November of 2009 that it would be constructing ten more. (Concentrated nuclear fuel is essential to the construction of nuclear weapons.) Both of these countries are currently viewed by many nations as a potential threat to surrounding areas, and therefore there is a strong consensus that their nuclear power should be limited. While these nations are not yet in a position to really abuse their nuclear capabilities, the future is clearly unpredictable.

7. Changes in Political Leadership. As with all decades, there are a continuing series of elections to decide who will be running the world’s most important countries. In 2000, George W. Bush was elected as President of the United States, serving two terms. His presidency initially began with high approval, but after years of negative and unforeseen events in the world and unpopular decisions by the Bush Administration, his disapproval rating rose steeply by the end of his second term. In England, Prime Minister Tony Blair underwent a similar cycle and was replaced by Gordon Brown who has already in a rather short time suffered a fate similar to that of George Bush in terms of approval ratings. Brown has made some significant changes while in office, notably changes in the powers of certain branches of the United Kingdom’s government including the Prime Minister. Also, on November 19, 2009, following substantial expansion of the powers of the European Union, the first permanent President of the European Council (the advising and governing committee of the European Union) Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium was elected. Van Rompuy is regarded highly by his colleagues and his actions as President of the European Council are much anticipated.

 

8. The Election of Barack Obama. Barack Obama deserves a section of his own in this article because his election was significant in several different ways. Obama’s election can be seen first and foremost as a major milestone in the overcoming of the race barrier that has long been a factor in The United States of America. However, his election was also more than that in that his election was seen as a choice for change for the United States and potentially the world. The economic and military stress that had been put upon the people of the United States and the world left many American citizens longing for a change in the United States, and they were offered a significant chance for change by Obama and his people. Barack Obama has so far made a number of changes to the policies put into place by his predecessor George Bush, and has instituted several of his own major policies as well. While Obama has announced the official end to United States operations in Iraq, the troop numbers remain relatively constant as the country continues to seek stability. Obama made perhaps his most controversial move so far by signing the economic stimulus package in February of 2009, but if his heavily promoted healthcare reforms are passed, that will likely be considered his most significant impact, as such changes will impact nearly 18% of the economy.

9. Healthcare Reform in the United States. Entering into his presidency, Barack Obama made it clear that healthcare would be one of his main focuses. On September 9, 2009, Obama made a speech to a joint session of Congress to argue for healthcare reform not only to Congress, but to the American people as well. The healthcare reform would address many issues that are perceived by some in the current US health care system. Unfortunately, the issues in health care are far greater than can be addressed by any administration; essentially demand for health care outstrips any possible supply. However, alternative ways of funding health care continue to be assessed as part of the reform effort. Of much interest has been a public option for those unwilling or unable to purchase private health insurance. Interestingly, On December 7, 2009 it appeared that the Senate would be abandoning the public option for a less dramatic compromise. The original bill was passed in the House of Representatives on November 7, 2009 but its success is dependent on getting through the Senate, and that is far from assured. Obama has often stated that his goal is to have the bill passed by the end of the year, but it remains unknown as to whether this can and will happen.

 

10. Major Social Issues. Human rights have been a topic of interest, likely since the oppression of certain groups of men began. Recently, however, with the increases in rights for women and race-based minority groups, other minorities throughout the United States and the world are beginning to fight for similar rights. In the 00’s, perhaps the most controversial of these human rights fights has been the fight for gay rights. These fights have been unexpectedly successful, with some major countries legalizing same-sex marriage like Sweden, Canada, and Spain, and with same-sex marriage debates being conducted in other countries like Argentina. Due to the recent number of protests for and against same-sex marriage, the governments of several countries, including the United States, have made same-sex marriage an important issue; in the US, several states now allow such marriages. Making less news, but no less important, have been several gender-based equality initiatives, especially by women in Muslim countries. These movements have even caught the attention of the United Nations, which is now making speeches and proposing resolutions to deal with this issue.

Conclusion – The 00’s were a decade of fear, panic, joy, and innovation. There were more major events that happened during this time then can be enumerated here, but this article highlights some of the most important of those related to politics and the world order. Although this decade has seen substantial instability, perhaps with the resolution of conflicts that have dominated this decade, there will be a time of increasing peace discussions and efforts for the common good. Although the decade has been riddled with perilous and tragic events, the hope is that humanity will be able to learn from these events, and instead of repeating the past as it has so often done, it will venture into a new and brighter future.