From Trump supporters storming the US Capitol, the fall of Kabul to Taliban to the refugee crisis on Belarus-Poland border. Thus, here the most significant world events in 2021.
10. The AUKUS Deal Debuts.
On September 15, President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jointly announced a new trilateral security partnership named AUKUS. The most significant part of the deal was the U.S. pledge to provide Australia with technology to build eight nuclear-powered (but not nuclear-armed) submarines.
9. Migration Crises Test Rich Countries.
The downturn in international migration flows in 2020 triggered by COVID-19 continued into 2021. That didn’t translate, however, into the end of migration crises.
8. Iran’s Nuclear Program Advances.
The year began with optimism that the Iran nuclear deal might be revived three years after President Donald Trump quit the agreement. Thus, Joe Biden came to office calling Trump’s Iran policy a “self-inflicted disaster” and pledging to return to the deal if Iran returned to compliance.
7. Supply Chains Falter.
“Supply chains” became a household term in 2021. However for decades, businesses believed that outsourcing production was the key to success.
6. The Taliban Return to Power.
The U.S. war in Afghanistan ended as it started twenty years earlier: with the Taliban in power. However, in 2020, President Donald Trump struck a deal with the Taliban that required withdrawing all U.S. troops by May 1, 2021.
5. Ethiopia’s Civil War Worsens.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace with neighboring Eritrea. Less than two years later, Ethiopia is embroiled in a bitter civil war.
4. The Global Democratic Erosion Continues.
The global erosion of democratic governance that has been underway since 2006 continued in 2021.
3. Joe Biden Becomes President.
Joe Biden made that point repeatedly in 2021. He further moved quickly upon taking office to fulfill his promise to strengthen relations with America’s allies. However, he returned the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health.
2. COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive as the Virus Mutates.
The vaccines created to address the novel coronavirus may join the smallpox, polio, and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines as major advances in saving lives and diminishing morbidity.
1. Countries Fail the Climate Change Challenge—Again.
“A code red for humanity.” That’s how UN Secretary General António Guterres’ described the UN report released in August that concluded that humanity faces catastrophic climate change unless the emission of heat-trapping gases is slashed. But one didn’t need to read the 4,000-page report to know that.
