2020 Year in Review
As we prepare to leave 2020 behind, it’s worth taking a look at how this exhausting year changed America and the world.
2020 began with a bang, quite literally, as three days into it, the US assassinated the commander of the Iranian revolutionary guards Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, and Iraqi militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The Iranians, who preferred their general in one piece, retaliated.
As World War III memes trended on social media, Iraqis and Syrians braced for the worst, since they’d actually be in the line of fire. Then, on January 8th, Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner departing from Tehran. In Iran, mourning for Soleimani quickly turned to protests against their own government’s action.
In yet another conflagration, the Australian bush fires, which began in 2019, continued through the first three months of 2020. Destroying over 8 million hectares of land, they also killed 34 people directly and hundreds more indirectly.
Not content with watching dumpster fires in their former colony, the UK (and Gibraltar) formally withdrew from the European Union on January 31st. Nearly eleven months later, a withdrawal agreement was reached. On December 31st it was finalized.
After making a “perfect phone call”, Trump was impeached by the House in 2019. Unamused by the geostrategic value of conditioning US aid to Ukraine on receiving dirt on Trump’s political rivals, the House changed him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. However, on February 5th, 2020, the Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump.
Meanwhile, a deadly virus, originating from Wuhan, China, spread across the world. You might’ve heard of it - it was dubbed COVID-19 on February 11th. Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan were early epicenters, but once it reached New York in March, the city quickly became the world’s hardest-hit.
Beginning on February 23rd, religious and political tensions in Delhi erupted into riots, mostly against Muslim residents and their property. “The worst religious violence to engulf the capital in decades” caused at least 51 deaths and extensive property damage.
Back in the United States (and around the world), the stock market was in freefall. On February 27th alone, the Dow fell by 4.4%. Another pair of crashes, on March 9th and 12th, somehow managed to be even worse. The COVID-19 recession caused job loss, wage cuts, and food insecurity worldwide.
After decades of war and months of intense diplomacy, the United States and the famously peaceful Taliban signed a peace agreement on February 29th. Noticeably absent from the deal was the Afghan government, which is strange given that they’re supposed to run the country where the Taliban operates.
After Russia refused to accept OPEC’s 1.5 million bpd production cut proposal, Saudi Arabia increased production and offered discounts. Thus, a price war began, at first causing a crash but by April 20th sending the price of oil into negative territory. This means you could’ve been paid to get free oil… if you had a place to store it.
In late April 2020, Kim Jong-un didn’t die. However, unlike all the other times he didn’t die, Kim Jong-un eschewed media presence for several weeks. He may have had health problems or was self-isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic (which would’ve made him the world’s most relatable dictator).
In an embarrassing imitation of the Bay of Pigs invasion, an American PMC, supported by Venezuelan dissidents, attempted to capture a beachhead and eventually remove Maduro from power. On May 3rd and 4th, two waves of ill-prepared invaders arrived and were promptly captured.
The murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police, prompted millions of Americans to remember that racism and police brutality still exist. Beginning on May 26th, the day after Floyd was killed, protests erupted - first in Minneapolis and then in cities across the nation. These protests continued through much of the summer.
A controversial national security law was passed in Hong Kong on June 30th. This sparked renewed protests against the law specifically and Chinese control of the region in general.
Stopping short of allowing him to rule forever, Russian voters approved constitutional amendments which, among other things, allow Putin to run for an additional two terms. After voting on July 1st, the referendum did not go as planned, since it failed in Nenets and Komi (while passing everywhere else, with a 78.56% majority nationwide). After an audit, the results in Komi were reversed.
Civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis died on July 17th. Noted for his participation in the civil right movement (including the March on Washington) and his long service in the House, Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Throughout the summer and autumn, wildfires on the West Coast caused a Martian makeover of several cities, including San Francisco. Both climate change and poor forest management were found to be responsible for the especially bad season.
An immense quantity of improperly stored ammonium nitrate exploded in the Beirut port on August 4th. In Lebanon, a country facing economic woes and whose government has long resembled an elaborate Ponzi scheme, things went from bad to worse. The blast threatened food supplies and imports, but the protests that followed failed to change the nation’s calcified political system.
Ongoing protests in Belarus surround a dubious presidential election which incumbent Lukashenko supposedly won. Authoritarian rule and repression since his initial election in 1996 led to many to refer to Lukashenko as “Europe’s last dictator”. Cautiously backed by Russia, Lukashenko refuses to budge - for now.
On August 13th, the United Arab Emirates announced it would normalize relations with Israel, becoming the third Arab nation to do so. Supposedly in exchange for Israel freezing its already-frozen annexation plans, but more a testament to America throwing diplomatic leverage behind Israeli regional ambitions, the UAE was followed by Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco in the subsequent months.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Supreme Court justice known for her pioneering advocacy for gender equality and other liberal causes, died on September 18th. Despite her wish to push off choosing her replacement until after the 2020 election, Trump and Senate Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the court - shifting the Supreme Court's balance well to the right.
Backed by Turkey and Syrian rebel mercenaries, Azerbaijan began an assault on the disputed, but Armenian-majority, Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 27th. This set off a six week war, in which Azerbaijan defeated Armenian forces and gained control of much of the region and adjacent territories. The resulting ceasefire greatly expanded Russian influence in the region, as Russian forces were deployed as peacekeepers.
Several weeks of postal voting, a relatively smooth election day on November 3rd, and three and a half days of vote counting resulted in a definitive victory for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Despite losing, Trump refuses to concede and is still engaged in legal efforts in an attempt to overturn the results.
By scrapping ethnic power-sharing arrangements and signing a peace treaty with Eritrea, Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed won international praise for his reform agenda. However, an end to ethnic federalism weakened the Tigray region, ruled by the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Tensions turned to fighting after an offensive by Ethiopian forces into the region beginning on November 4th.
Pfizer, reporting on a candidate vaccine developed in conjunction with the German company BioNTech, provided the first credible evidence that a vaccine is able to prevent COVID-19 infections on November 9th. Their vaccine is even more effective than expected, crossing the 90% threshold similar to other common vaccines. Approval by several major countries, including the US, in subsequent weeks, set off the largest vaccination program in history. Hopefully, this marks the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overshadowed by a global pandemic and a consequential presidential election, 2020 has been a significant and tragic year for many. At the same time, it was marked by incredible resilience, hope, and kindness. May these emotions guide us in 2021, as we prepare to contain and defeat the coronavirus and build a better world.
Originally published on Quora.