Current decade of the Gregorian calendar (2020–2029)
From top left, clockwise:
An image ofSARS-CoV-2, a virus that caused theCOVID-19 pandemic;COVID-19 became a global pandemic in 2020 and was deemed an international public health emergency until 2023.
The2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" or "two thousand [and] twenties") is the currentdecade that began on 1 January 2020 and will end on 31 December 2029.
TheIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, which began in the late 19th or early 20th century, erupted into 11 days of open violence in May 2021 after the attempted eviction of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli settlers and an Israeli police raid onAl-Aqsa Mosque,[14] with leading militant groupHamas launching over 4,000 rockets into Israel.[15] The subsequent unrest caused extensive damage primarily, but not entirely, to Palestinians. The outbreak ended on 19 May.[16]
On7 October 2023, Hamas and other Gazan militant groups conducted an armed attack on Israel, killing 797 civilians and taking 251 hostages back into Gaza. The subsequent war between Israel and Hamas has resulted in more than 50,000 casualties as of 2024, more than all the preceding decades of the conflict combined.
After weakeningIranian proxies and thefall of the Assad regime, Israel launched a series of strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, nuclear scientists andIRGC leadership. Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles against Israel. The United States temporarily joined the war byattacking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Motivated by the9/11 attacks, theUnited States and other governments started a large scale effort to eliminate terrorism.[19] With support fromNATO, the United Statesinvaded Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and overthrew the government; however, U.S. forces remained in the country to stabilise the situation.[20] Two years later, on the pretext that the government ofSaddam Hussein hadweapons of mass destruction,[21] the United States and a coalition of partnersinvaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein's regime,[22] after which the U.S. occupied the country, officially leaving in 2011.[23] However, insurgencies remained active in both countries, long after the invasions.[24]
In late-2013, a terrorist organisation calledISIS began making rapid advances and territorial gains in Iraq and Syria. Itcaptured Mosul in June[25] and madeRaqqa its capital.[26] Various international coalitions were formed to help fight the militants.[27][28] By December 2017, ISIS had lost much of its former territory.
Following a rise in criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, Mexican PresidentFelipe Calderón declared a war on drugs in December 2006.[30] Since the start of the war, the death toll from drug violence had sharply increased.[31] Arrests of key cartel leaders led to increasing violence as cartels fought for control of trafficking routes into the United States.[32][33][34]
In 2009,Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group, began waging an insurgency against the newly formedTransitional Federal Government. In 2011, the federal government capturedMogadishu[35] and subsequently retook several towns across the country.[36] Since then, the government has attempted to clean out the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds with help fromAMISOM soldiers.[37]
In January 2012, arebellion byTuaregs in NorthernMali began. After Malian presidentAmadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état, Tuaregs captured Northern Mali,[38] and declared it to be the independent state ofAzawad.[39] However, shortly afterward, various Islamist groups took over Northern Mali from the Tuaregs and imposed sharia law on the region.[40]
On 22 February 2020, rivals Kiir and Machar struck a unity deal and formed a coalition government, after an estimated 400,000 deaths and more than 4 million people displaced by the war.
Following a rise in political and criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, thePhilippines has been engaged in a drug war and escalating terrorism sincePhilippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte wasinaugurated on 30 June 2016. It had caused more than 5,000 deaths and over 150,000 arrests by the beginning of the decade.[43][44]
After years of increased tensions between theTigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and theEthiopian andEritrean governments, a full-scale war broke out in November 2020, that has killed an estimated 300,000–500,000 people as of March 2022.[45] On 2 November, both the Ethiopian government and TPLFformally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and systematic, verifiable disarmament[46] though Tigrayan authorities allege that Ethiopia continued to launch attacks after the peace deal was signed[47][48]
On 23 June 2023,Wagner Group leaderYevgeny Prigozhin led a "March for Justice" against theRussian government for a supposed attack on his men by themilitary. A day later however, as his convoy was encroaching on Moscow, Prigozhin called off the rebellion in exchange for amnesty and other unknown reasons.
The US military and surveillance campaign with the goal of "detecting, disrupting, and degrading transnational criminal and illicit maritime networks" according to theadministration of US presidentDonald Trump. Some analysts have identified the operation as a hybridization of thewar on terror and thewar on drugs, and others have claimed thatremoval ofNicolás Maduro from power inVenezuela was an objective of the operation.
Demonstrations by Dutchfarmers, characterised by the use oftractors to block roads, andoccupy public spaces. The protests were triggered in October 2019 by a proposal in parliament to halve the country's livestock in an attempt to limitagricultural pollution. It was related to theDutch nitrogen crisis. The farmers' protests combines action groups and an amalgamation of larger goals. Also, the partyFarmer–Citizen Movement was founded, which has gained power in parliament.
Mass popular protests and riots against the deliberation and passage of the controversialOmnibus Law on Job Creation, which was passed on 5 October 2020. The wider policies of PresidentJoko Widodo were also protested against, and resulted in the formation of the newLabour Party.
Mass popular protests and riots against the Belarusian government and PresidentAlexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus, the demonstrations began in the lead-up to and during the2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought his sixth term in office.
Mass popular protests and riots against the government of Prime MinisterPrayut Chan-o-cha, the dissolution of theFuture Forward Party, changes to the constitution in 2017, and the country's political landscape. Resulted in the detention of leading figures.
On 5 October, protests began in Kyrgyzstan in response to the annulledparliamentary election, which protesters felt were unfair with allegations of vote-rigging. A day later, the parliamentary elections were annulled. 6 days later, on 12 October,presidentSooronbay Jeenbekov announced a state of emergency. On 15 October, Jeenbekov finally resigned, making way forSadyr Japarov, who was nominated by parliament on 14 October to be actingprime minister, as also acting president. Following the protests, Japarov waselected president on 10 January 2021, on the same day areferendum was held on the Kyrgyz government system, in which the Kyrgyz voted for a reintroduction of the presidential system. The newconstitution, passed by theSupreme Council was approved by voters in anotherreferendum on 11 April 2021. Finally, on 28 November 2021, newparliamentary elections took place.
Protest began on 22 October in response to a ruling of theConstitutional Tribunal ofJulia Przyłębska, mainly consisting of judges who were appointed by the rulingLaw and Justice (PiS) inillegal way, which tightened the law onabortion making Poland the country withthe most stringent abortion law in Europe (except Malta, Andorra and Vatican). The ruling made almost all cases of abortion illegal, including those cases in which the foetus had a severe and permanentdisability, or an incurable and life-threatening disease.
The protests were the biggest protest in Poland since 1989 (creation ofIII Rzeczpospolita), and were directed against the ruling party (PiS) and theCatholic Church, which had great influence on the government. As a result of the protests, the popularity of the ruling party fell by 10 percentage points, which was one of the main factors in the change of power in theparliamentary elections in 2023.
PresidentBolsonaro'sgovernment's response to theCOVID-19 pandemic culminated in mass popular protests and riots, with protests occurring in both support and opposition to the government and resulted in a failed impeachment attempt of Bolsonaro.
A series of protests inEswatini against themonarchy and for democratization began as a peaceful protest on 20 June, then escalated after 25 June into violence and looting over the weekend as the government took a hardline stance against the demonstrations and prohibited the delivery of petitions.
On 7 August 2021,PiS MPs, which was then the ruling party, submitted a bill to theSejm amending the "Broadcasting and the Cinematography Act" ("Ustawa o Radiofonii i Telewizji"), the aim of which was to revoke broadcasting licenses for stations with foreign capital exceeding 49%. This act severely affected the main opposition stationTVN, which belonged to a Dutch holding company.
On 11 August, the act was put to a vote. During the vote, the act did not pass, because one ofPiS's coalition partner,Porozumienie, voted against it. After reading the vote that was unfavorable for PiS,Marshal of the SejmElżbieta Witek called a recess, during whichKukiz'15 MPs said that they had voted wrong, which resulted in a resumption of the vote during which the act passed.
In connection with these events, there were mass anti-government protests. As a result, the act was vetoed byAndrzej Duda. An additional consequence was the expulsion of Porozumienie from the government coalition.
Protests erupt in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden sharp increase in liquefied gas prices following the lifting of a government-enforcedprice cap on 1 January.
Spurred by a draft of a new version of theConstitution of Uzbekistan, in which the word "sovereign" was removed from the description of the status ofKarakalpakstan, and the mention of the republic's right to secede from Uzbekistan was also removed. These were later withdrawn.
Thirty-one people, including 25 civilians and six police officers, died during violent protests and riots in theWest African country ofSierra Leone. The protests were sparked by the nation's cost-of-living crisis.
The 2022 Brazilian election protests began shortly after the conclusion of the2022 Brazilian general election's second round on 30 October, in whichLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president. Supporters ofJair Bolsonaro, theoutgoing incumbent president, started blockingroads andhighways in the country. At least 23 Brazilian states, plus theFederal District, recorded roadblocks as of 1 November, adding up to at least 267 roadblocks according to data fromFederal Highway Police (PRF). Dozens of Bolsonaro supporters storm theThree Powers Plaza in the capitalBrasília, cause enormous damage.President Lula was not there, nor was Bolsonaro or members of Congress.
A series of protests against COVID-19 lockdowns began inmainland China on 15 November 2022. The protests began in response tomeasures taken by theChinese government to prevent the spread ofCOVID-19 in the country, including implementing azero-COVID policy. Discontentment towards the policy has grown since the beginning of the pandemic, which confined many people to their homes without work, leaving them unable to purchase daily necessities and subjecting them to harsh restrictions. Protests escalated on 24 November 2022 following afire in an apartment building inÜrümqi which killed 10 people, with protesters blaming China's policies for the deaths.
Protests erupted against the government ofDina Boluarte and theCongress of Peru called by supporters of the oustedpresident of Peru,Pedro Castillo, organized by social organizations and indigenous peoples who felt they experiencedpolitical disenfranchisement, specifically on the politically left-wing to far left. The government'sauthoritarian response was widely criticized, with further discontent following the Supreme Court's decision to declare protesting in Peru to be illegal.
A series of anti-government protests against the authoritarian government were initiated by the Bangladeshi opposition parties in December 2022, the protests continued spite of the government crackdowns. Though initially low-level, with instances of vandalism in late 2023, the movement gained momentum in 2024. Initially focused on restructuring discriminatory traditional andquota-based systems for government job recruitment, the movement expanded against what many perceive as an authoritarian government when hundreds of protestors and civilians, most of whom were students, were killed. The protests resulted in the resignation of prime ministerSheikh Hasina after 15 years of rule.
Mass protests, strikes and civil disobedience campaigns occurred across the country in response to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu's right wing government'splan to overhaul the Israeli Judiciary system, which have been criticized for removing the checks and balances on the government and giving it unrestrained power.
A series of street demonstrations taking place throughoutGeorgia over parliamentary backing of a proposed "Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence", which requires NGOs to register as "agents of foreign influence" if the funds they receive from abroad amount to more than 20% of their total revenue. Police have been reported as using water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protests, especially in the capitalTbilisi. The parliament retracted the bill as a result of protests on 10 March 2023. Protests against the2024 Georgian parliamentary election results began in Georgia after the preliminary official results were announced. The demonstrators claimed that the elections, which saw the rulingGeorgian Dream win a majority of seats, were fraudulent, and alternatively demanded a recount and a new election. Additional protests were held on 4 November near the parliament building, where the opposition parties unveiled their strategy to tackle the election results. The protests continued on 17 November, when the final results were certified by theCentral Election Commission of Georgia. The scope of the protests was broadened on 28 November, when the government announced that it would postpone the EU negotiations process until 2028. The protests are also called "Georgian Maidan".
The result of the protest was the submission of an amendment to the act by PresidentAndrzej Duda, which was to soften the controversial provisions in the act. Additionally, thanks to the march, the opposition's popularity increased by about 5 percentage points.
A second protest was held on 1 October under the name "March of a Million Hearts" ("Marsz Miliona Serc"), as a reminder of the first protest just before theparliamentary elections, that was held on 15th October. The protest was organised by democratic opposition (Civic Coalition,Third Way andNew Left), and gathered between 600 000 to 1 100 000 people. This protest was one of the main reasons for the opposition's victory in the parliamentary elections.
Series of farmers' protests were held across the European Union mostly due to opposing EU green politics, and unregulated trade of agricultural products with non-European Union member states, such as Ukraine and the Mercosur bloc.
A series of protests erupted in response to the results of the 2024 presidential election, citing allegations ofvoter fraud andother irregularities during the election process. These events unfolded as part of the broader2024 Venezuelan political crisis and occurred against the backdrop of the ongoingcrisis in Venezuela. Demonstrations to uphold the results of the election, along with vigils for political prisoners, occurred worldwide after the July election. Spontaneous protests broke out immediately after the election, while later rallies were organized by theVenezuelan opposition. Maduro claimed the opposition was encouraging acoup and has charged demonstrators with terrorism, while initiating an unprecedented crackdown. Maduro's security forces have gone door-to-door seeking to arrest protesters, poll workers and members of the opposition in what Maduro has referred to asOperation Tun Tun, and armed bands of Maduro supporters known ascolectivos have joined security forces in repressing dissent. As of 14 August 2024, at least 2,200 persons are reported to have been arrested, and 25 killed. Maduro has announced plans to continue to seek the arrest of dissenters, and to rehabilitate two prisons to house those detained.
Thefar-right,anti-immigration protests and riots began after amass stabbing inSouthport. The riots were fuelled by false claims circulated by far-right groups that the perpetrator of the attack was aMuslim and anasylum seeker, in addition to broaderIslamophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant sentiments that had grown leading up to the protests, it was the largest incident of social unrest in Englandsince 2011.
A series of anti-governmentprotests and riots against political corruption,retail boycotts, and various problems across Southeast Europe sparked by public anger over corruption,democratic backsliding, and tragic events, the protests are largely student-led and driven by younger generations demanding transparency and accountability.
Public and student-led anti-government protests and riots are being held throughout several cities in Indonesia. They were launched starting on 17 February 2025 by theAll-Indonesian Students' Union (BEM SI), together with individual students' unions against the alleged controversial policies of PresidentPrabowo Subianto. It is the most violent protests and riots in the country sinceMay 1998.
A renewed anti-government protests and riots across Thailand includingBangkok, over a controversialdouble border crisis in Cambodia and Myanmar alongside its proposed military buildup funded by the Indian government, as well as the discontent of theShinawatra family over political corruption. The oppositionPeople's Party supporters and pro-democracy protesters attempted to storm theThai parliament building while respecting the controversial major issues.
Large-scale protests and riots are taking place across Nepal, predominantly organized by Gen Z students and young citizens against government corruption which resulted the resignation of Prime MinisterK. P. Sharma Oli and replaced bySushila Karki was appointed as interim prime minister, as well as allegations of mismanagement of public funds and a state-terrorist designation.
Anti-government protests have occurred acrossMadagascar since September 2025, focused on the capital ofAntananarivo. On 11 October, units of theMadagascar Armed Forces carried outa coup in support of the protests, which made presidentAndry Rajoelina flee the country and formation of a provisional military junta led by ColonelMichael Randrianirina.
Large-scale protests against government corruption and a proposedmartial law declaration over theMexican drug war took place across Mexico following the assassination ofUruapan mayorCarlos Manzo. Protests were held in major cities across Mexico and varied in size and character, ranging from peaceful marches and vigils to incidents of vandalism and clashes with security forces.
Mass protests and riots erupted across multiple cities in Iran amid a deepeningeconomic crisis and widespread dissatisfaction with the government. While initially sparked by frustration over skyrocketing inflation, rising food prices, and the severe depreciation of the Iranian rial, the protests quickly evolved into a broader movement demanding an end to theIslamic Republic's oppressive regime under Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei, the movement quickly became the largest outbreak of unrest in Iran since the2022–2023 protests following thedeath of Mahsa Amini.
Despite being acapitalist country, the relationship between income and voter support in the United States inverted in 2024, because of educational polarization. Kamala Harris won voters making over $100,000 and $200,000 a year, but lost the election.[6] Similar trends have occurred in Canada and the United Kingdom, ascentre-left parties lose the support of those without college degrees,[237] including many with lower incomes.[221] The right-wing populistReform UK party has attracted lower-income voters who tend to be older, did not graduate from university, and male.[238] As early as 2018, French economistThomas Piketty had predicted that centre-left parties would come to represent women, the highly educated and high-income,[239] and ethnic minorities, instead of those with low incomes.[240] Kamala Harris's strongest voters were women withgraduate degrees and Black women, herself a Black woman with aJuris Doctor.[6]
In particular, high-income and high-education women now vote for liberal parties, while low-income and low-education men now vote for conservative parties, as shown in the graphs.[217] This is a complete reversal from the 20th century. Lower-income men are more conservative than higher-income men, and higher-income women are more liberal than lower-income women.[6] High-income men still vote for conservative parties, and low-income women still vote for liberal parties.[241]
The Republican Party's core demographics changed to becoming a party primarily ofmen without college degrees, includingHispanic men.[217][242] The Democratic Party's core demographics changed to becoming a party primarily ofwomen with college degrees andBlack women. Hispanic men voted to the right of White women in 2024.[242] Women without college degrees and men with college degrees were both fairly evenly split.[217]
The2020 United States presidential election saw the election ofKamala Harris as vice president was widely regarded as a historic milestone, as the first woman and multicultural (African American and Asian American) to hold the office, reflecting broader trends toward increased diversity and representation in American politics, culture and society.[249] She was conceded defeat as a presidential candidate at the2024 United States presidential election to Donald Trump.[250]
President ofSomaliaMohamed Abdullahi Mohamed stayed in power past the end of his term and postponed elections scheduled for 2021.Prime MinisterMohamed Hussein Roble then called for the president to immediately step down. The president later dismissed Roble for alleged corruption. Protests were reported across the country in favor and opposed to the president. A deal to holdelections in May 2022 was reached in January which resulted in the incumbent president losing his bid for reelection.
During a political crisis, Salvadoran PresidentNayib Bukele sent forty soldiers of theSalvadoran Army into theLegislative Assembly building in an effort to coerce politicians to approve a loan request of $109 million from theUnited States for Bukele's security plan for the country.
The event has been condemned by foreign governments, the political opposition, and human rights organizations and is considered the first major political crisis in the country since the conclusion of theSalvadoran Civil War in 1992 and has been referred to as acoup attempt.
The 59th United States presidential election was held on 3 November 2020.Democrat and formerVice-presidentJoe Biden defeatedRepublican and then-incumbentPresidentDonald Trump, with theElectoral College formally declaring Biden the winner on 14 December 2020. Trump refused to concede, and filed lawsuits challenging the results in several states,[286] though most of the legal challenges were either dismissed or dropped, with judges citing lack of evidence to suggest voter fraud occurred. Trump had also unsuccessfully attempted toundo the election results by forcing government officials to stopPennsylvania,Nevada,Arizona,Wisconsin,Michigan, andGeorgia from certifying Biden as the winner, and urging his supporters to "walk" to the United States Capitol to demand Trump be declared the winner of the election.[287] This was one of the reasons for the decision of a group of his supporters to gather inWashington, D.C., on 6 January 2021 and break into theCapitol building during a Joint session of Congress. TheJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack disrupted Congress whilecertifying the election, forcing both chambers to undergo lockdown lasting for four hours. On the same day, Trump coerced then-incumbent Vice PresidentMike Pence to overturn the election results to which Pence refused. During the attack, Trump tweeted directly to his supporters falsely claiming Congress was attempting to assist in stealing the election.Twitter responded by suspending Trump's account permanently following Trump's tweet.Facebook,Instagram,YouTube, andSnapchat all also suspended Trump from using their platforms worrying his posts may incite additional violence to the Capitol attacks. In relation to this, Trump wasimpeached for the second time by the House of Representatives and became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Meanwhile, Joe Biden was sworn in as the United States President on 20 January 2021. TheSenateimpeachment trial ended on 13 February 2021, one month after its start, resulting in Trump being foundnot guilty of inciting theattack on the Capitol. On 1 August2023, agrand juryindicted Trump in theU.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on four charges:conspiracy to defraud the United States,obstructing an official proceeding related to the certification of the election results on 6 January 2021, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, andconspiracy against rights.
Barbados became the newest republic in the world on 30 November 2021, its 55th Independence Day, when the alreadyelected, previousGovernor-General of Barbados,Sandra Mason, was sworn into office as the firstpresident of the Caribbean country. This endedQueen Elizabeth II's 55-year tenure as monarch of an independent Barbados, prior to her death in a following year.
Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2024 to choose apresident for a six-year term beginning on 10 January 2025. The election was politically contentious, with international monitors calling it neitherfree nor fair, citing the incumbentMaduro administration having controlled most institutions and repressed thepolitical opposition before, during, and after the election. Widely viewed as having won the election, former diplomatEdmundo González Urrutia fled to asylum in Spain amid repression of dissent and a national and international political crisis that resulted when Venezuelan electoral authorities announced—without presenting any evidence—thatNicolás Maduro won. Maduro ran for a third consecutive term, while González represented theUnitary Platform (Spanish:Plataforma Unitaria Democrática; PUD), the main opposition political alliance. In June 2023, the Venezuelan government had barred leading candidateMaría Corina Machado from participating. This move was regarded by the opposition as a violation of political human rights and was condemned by international bodies such as theOrganization of American States (OAS), theEuropean Union, andHuman Rights Watch, as well as numerous countries. Academics, news outlets and the opposition provided "strong evidence" to suggest that González won the election by a wide margin with the opposition releasing copies of official tally sheets collected bypoll watchers from a majority of polling centers showing a landslide victory for González. The government-controlledNational Electoral Council (CNE) announcedfalsified results claiming a narrow Maduro victory on 29 July; vote tallies were not provided. The CNE's results were rejected by theCarter Center and by the OAS, and theUnited Nations declared that there was "no precedent in contemporary democratic elections" for announcing a winner without providing tabulated results. Analyses by media sources found the CNE results statistically improbable and lacking in credibility. Protests occurred across the country and internationally, as the Maduro administration initiatedOperation Tun Tun, a crackdown on dissent. Some world leaders rejected the CNE's claimed results and recognized González as the election winner, while some other countries, including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Cuba recognized Maduro as the winner. Maduro did not cede power, and instead asked theSupreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), composed of justices loyal to Maduro, to audit and approve the results. On 22 August 2024, as anticipated, the TSJ described the CNE's statement of Maduro winning the election as "validated". The supreme court ruling was rejected bythe United States,the European Union and ten Latin American countries. An arrest warrant was issued on 2 September 2024 for González for the alleged crimes of "usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law, conspiracy and association." After seeking asylum in theSpanish Embassy in Caracas, González left for Spain on 7 September 2024.
The 60th United States presidential election was held on 5 November 2024.Democrat and formerVice-presidentJoe Biden initially planned to run againstRepublican and formerPresidentDonald Trump, in a rematch of the2020 United States presidential election. In the aftermath of a much-criticised debate performance against Trump in June 2024, and far behind Trump in the polls, Biden was pressured to drop out of the race. Vice PresidentKamala Harris took his place as the Democratic nominee, bypassing the usual primary process. Polling narrowed in the months leading up to election day, with the race too close to call across swing states and the country at large. Trump emerged the clear winner on election night, winning the popular vote and a clear majority of electoral college votes. Harris refused to concede on election night after it had become clear Trump had won the electoral college and popular vote. However, the following day, she conceded and acknowledged that Trump had won the election. This was the second of two elections won by Trump, the first being in2016 againstHillary Clinton, preceding his defeat by Biden in 2020.
Rodrigo Paz Pereira won overJorge Quiroga, marking the first time in Bolivian history that the presidency changed hands through a runoff election and ending two decades ofMAS dominance. The MAS party suffered major historic losses, retaining only two seats in the Chamber of Deputies and losing all seats in the Senate.
TheUnited States launched a series of airstrikes onVenezuela began when theUnited States Armed Forces bombed locations across northern Venezuela around 2:00 a.m.local time. More than 150 aircraft conducted strikes on areas around the capital city ofCaracas, which resulted PresidentNicolás Maduro and the first lady,Cilia Flores, were captured by U.S. forces and flown to New York City.
The 2020s saw the U.S. presidency alternate fromDonald Trump toJoe Biden in2020, followed by Trump's successful re-election in2024; both theoldest presidents served during the decade. Trump is the second president elected to nonconsecutive terms (followingGrover Cleveland in1884 and1892).
Donald Trump, who survived an attempted assassination inPennsylvania in July 2024. This image shows Donald Trump paying respect to Corey Comperatore's firefighter uniform; he lost his life in the assassination attempt.
Since 5 May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops have engaged in aggressive melee, face-offs, and skirmishes at locations along theSino-Indian border, including near the disputedPangong Lake inLadakh and theTibet Autonomous Region, and near the border betweenSikkim and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Additional clashes also took place at locations in eastern Ladakh along theLine of Actual Control (LAC).
A 3-day border conflict with clashes occurred in late April 2021 between the twoCentral Asian countriesKyrgyzstan andTajikistan. The reason why the fighting broke out is disputed, but it is due either to an oldwater dispute or to local people's dissatisfaction with the installation ofsurveillance cameras near the border. After 3 days of intense clashes, that left more than 50 people dead and also more than 40,000 displaced civilians, the two countries agreed on a ceasefire. After the ceasefire, however, there was a fatal incident on 9 July.
Beginning on 1 May 2021, theTaliban and allied militant groups made a final offensive against theIslamic Republic of Afghanistan and its allies, coinciding with the withdrawal of most United States and allied troops from Afghanistan. It resulted in thede facto takeover of the country and the reinstatement of theIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan,ending the twenty-year-longWar in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021.
The sporadic fighting betweenKyrgyzstan andTajikistan, which had started in2021, began again in late January 2022 and the bloody clashes resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries on 27 January, 10 March, 3 June and 14 June. In September, the fighting escalated and the 6 days of fighting between 14 and 20 September, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries, finally ended on 20 September when the two countries signed a peace deal.
Lai Ching-te of theDPP was elected president with 40.05% of the vote overNew Taipei mayorHou Yu-ih of theKMT and theTPP nominatedKo Wen-je, this marked the first time since2000 that the winning candidate obtained less than 50% of the vote, and the first time that a party won more than two consecutive presidential elections since direct elections were introduced in1996. The results saw the ruling DPP lost its majority in the Legislative Yuan that it had held since 2016, losing 11 seats and retaining 51, while the KMT became the largest single party with 52 seats, and the TPP won eight seats, and formed a minority government over controversialpolitical status concerns.
The ruling conservativeBJP of theNDA retained more seats, while the liberalINDIA coalition outperformed expectations, securing 234 seats, 99 of which were won by the Congress, garnering the party the official opposition status for the first time in 10 years.
India and Pakistan fell into a military and diplomatic crisis began after the2025 Pahalgam attack, aterrorist attack in theBaisaran Valley ofJammu and Kashmir byThe Resistance Front (TRF), which killed 26 people. A directconflict broke out on 7 May 2025, after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan, codenamed Operation Sindoor. However, on 10 May 2025, Pakistan launched their retaliatory operation codenamed Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos and military hostilities continued until a ceasefire made as a short-lived conflict.
Thailand and Cambodia fell into a military and diplomatic crisis, began the discontent of theShinawatra family escalated culminated by the suspension of the Prime MinisterPaetongtarn Shinawatra by the Constitutional Court and replaced byAnutin Charnvirakul two months later. A direct conflict broke out on 24 July 2025, after Thailand launched missile strikes on Cambodian border as a potential war. TheKuala Lumpur Peace Accord signed a ceasefire on 26 October 2025 on the sidelines of the47th ASEAN Summit inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia, but it was reescalated in a following month and a controversial boycott calls, which resulted asnap election by February 2026.
The July Declaration and Charter was officially recognized document of theJuly Revolution. It was formally announced by Chief AdviserMuhammad Yunus, marking the first anniversary of the revolution. The declaration, which was prepared under strict confidentiality, outlined 28 points addressing political, constitutional, and governance issues.
Diplomatic tensions betweenChina andJapan entered a state of crisis in November 2025, after Japanese prime ministerSanae Takaichi said in theJapanese parliament that apotential Chinese attack onTaiwan could potentially constitute an "existential crisis for Japan" under theLegislation for Peace and Security, allowing Japan to take military action incollective self-defence. The controversial Student Mobilization Act was approved by the Japanese MPs focused to safeguard Taiwan from a Chinese invasion and theAmerican defense, along with neighboring South Korea also approved the act.
Two major opposition parties, theBNP andJamaat made gains from the controversially bannedAwami League party after theJuly Revolution in two years. The BNP, led byTarique Rahman, won a landslide victory in the election, securing two-thirds of seats; Jamaat secured the second most seats. Aconstitutional referendum on theJuly Charter which resulted another victory for pro-for supporters. The election was also considered to be the world's first "Gen Z-inspired" election after the series ofGen Z protests around the world.
Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, the longest-living and longest-reigning British monarch, reigning since 6 February 1952, died at the age of 96. Her son Charles acceded to the throne as King Charles III immediately, after serving as heir apparent for 70 years, the longest in British history.
Europe Now! candidateJakov Milatović wins the 2nd round of the presidential election against incumbentpresidentMilo Đukanović of theDPS. Đukanović, who had ruled the country almost continuously since1991 either as president orprime minister, thus lost power for the first time after more than 32 years. Milatović's victory was also the first time that the DPS lost a presidential election since1990.
Finland andSweden applied to join NATO following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and were formally accepted the following years. This ended their neutralities existing more than two centuries, becoming the latest Nordic countries to join the alliance.
TheUnited Right secured the highest number of seats in the election, but failed to achieve a majority in theSejm. Meanwhile, the opposition, headed byDonald Tusk, successfully garnered a parliamentary majority. This represents a shift in the Sejm's majority for the first time in eight years in Poland.
In December 2023, theBorne government faced a governability and credibility crisis. It was caused mainly by the difficult passage of the 2023 immigration and asylum bill, resulted the short-livedAttal government formed for eight months. The2024 French legislative election organized and held in June 2024, which resulted in a hung parliament with the left-wingNew Popular Front (NFP) leading a plurality. The fragile political context resulted in the formation of two short-livedminority governments, headed byMichel Barnier,François Bayrou, andSébastien Lecornu respectively, both of which ended up collapsing over budgetary disputes.
In July 2024, theSchoof cabinet faced a governing crisis since the2023 Dutch general election, with the longest government formation in modern Dutch history. It was caused mainly by the difficult passage of the immigration and asylum bill, and the cabinet fell after the far-rightParty for Freedom (PVV) left the coalition and cabinet on 3 June 2025 due to a public discontent. Asnap election was held in October 2025. The liberal and centristCDA-D66 coalition made gains and PVV became the two largest parties, each winning 44 and 26 seats and about 17% of the vote.
A series of two presidential elections held in Romania, began with the annulation of the first election following the result of a controversial first round withnationalist candidateCălin Georgescu achieving arelative majority of votes. The second election began in February 2025, with the arrest and rejection of Georgescu as the candidate afterIlie Bolojan became acting president for three months until the election. The centrist candidateNicusor Dan won the election over nationalistGeorge Simion.
The ruling pro-EuropeanParty of Action and Solidarity (PAS) retained the parliamentary election over pro-RussianPatriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP) suffered minor losses, the election was described as potentially determining the fate of Moldova'saccession bid into theEuropean Union (EU) with PresidentMaia Sandu calling it "the most important election in the history of the country".
The Operation Midas is the name of the currently ongoing anti-corruption investigation of theNational Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and theSpecialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), launched in 2024. The investigation concerns large-scale defenses in the energy sector of Ukraine, committed during theRusso-Ukrainian war, it is considered one of the most high-profile anti-corruption investigations in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
TheNetherlands,France, andGermany faced political crises which resulted the downfall of their cabinets due to a public discontent such as the economy, immigration, and defense since June 2024.
A period of unrest began due to a variety of factors, notably the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the decision to retractdiplomatic recognition ofTaiwan and instead recognizeChina.
A crisis began whenHigh Court JudgeDavid Lambourne was suspended in May 2022 and Chief JusticeBill Hastings was suspended on 30 June 2022, both over allegations of misconduct. In October 2022, thePresidentTaneti Maamau appointed Attorney General Tetiro Semilota as Acting Chief Justice.
Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, iskilled while giving a campaign speech by a former navy sailor who held a grudge against the South Korean-basedUnification Church.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, then vice president and former president of Argentina, survives anattempt on her life after the assailant's weapon malfunctions.
Nancy Pelosi, who at the time was Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is thetarget of a failed assassination attempt when a man armed with a hammer breaks into her residence. He instead assaultsher husband, causing serious injuries as she was not home at the time of the attempt.
Key figures in the Russian paramilitary organizationWagner Group, including its founder and leaderYevgeny Prigozhin, are killed in a planecrash widely believed to have been an assassination carried out by the Russian government after an attemptedrebellion by Prigozhin earlier in the summer.
Yahya Sinwar, Palestinian political leader ofHamas, iskilled inRafah in a military operation conducted byIsrael, two months after the assassination of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, Colombian senator and presidential candidate, isshot at a campaign event inBogotá, later pronounced dead from his injuries on 11 August.
A massive explosion occurred in theport of Beirut. The blast was so loud that it was even reported to be heard inCyprus, which is approximately 240 km from the location of the explosion. The windows of major buildings in a 6-mile radius were shattered and roads were filled with debris. According to initial findings, it was estimated that a warehouse with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded, which was confiscated by the Lebanese government from the abandoned ship MVRhosus and then stored in the port without proper safety measures for six years. 220 deaths were confirmed, more than 110 people were missing and at least 7,000 were reported injured. Beirut governorMarwan Abboud estimated that up to 300,000 people were left homeless by the explosions and there was $10–15 billion USD in property damage.
A 12-story beachfront condominium in theMiami suburb ofSurfside, Florida, partially collapsed. As of 22 July 2021, a total of 98 people are confirmed to have died, while 11 were injured. One person was rescued from the rubble, and about 35 people were rescued on 24 June from the uncollapsed portion of the building, which was demolished 11 days later as a safety precaution due to the approach ofHurricane Elsa. On 7 July, authorities announced that the objective of the search was transitioning from rescue to recovery and that the missing victims are presumed dead.
A large explosion took place in the Surmalushopping centre in theArmenian capital ofYerevan. It caused widespread destruction and fire, leaving dozens of dead and injured. The explosion killed 16 people and injured 63, with nine missing as of 20 August.
A submersible byOceanGate, carrying five occupants, notably,Shahzada Dawood,Hamish Harding,Paul-Henri Nargeolet, andStockton Rush, imploded, after an expedition to explore the Titanic's ruins. The incident was widely reported in the news and caused multiple investigations and a lawsuit. OceanGate suspended all its commercial operations after the implosion.
The Derna dam collapses were the catastrophic failures of two dams inDerna,Libya on the night of 10–11 September 2023, in the aftermath ofStorm Daniel. The dam collapses released an estimated 30 million m3 (39 million yd3) of water, causing flooding downstream as theWadi Derna overflowed its banks. The floods partially destroyed the city ofDerna. Estimates for the number of casualties range from 5,300 to 20,000 people. The event was the second-deadliest dam failure in history, after the1975 Banqiao Dam failure inChina.
During a concert by merengue singerRubby Pérez, the roof of the venue collapsed. The cause remains undetermined. 236 people died and over 180 were injured, out of over 500 people in the club at the time. Notable deaths included Pérez, former MLB playersTony Blanco andOctavio Dotel, andNelsy Cruz, a regional governor. It was one of the deadliest non-natural disasters in Dominican history.
Ahigh-speed passenger trainderailed in the municipality ofAdamuz, in theprovince of Córdoba, Spain. A second train crashed into it and was also derailed. The incident killed 45 people and injured 292 others, including 15 in critical condition. The crash was Spain's worst railway disaster since theSantiago de Compostela derailment in 2013, and the fourth deadliest railway accident ever recorded in the country.
A fire at the Pulse nightclub likely caused bypyrotechnics used at the concert. Twenty people were arrested after the fire, including the nightclub owner. According to a preliminary investigation, the nightclub did not have a license and was overcrowded. The number of victims was over sixty.
A deadly explosion and fire broke out at theWang Fuk Court apartment complex inTai Po District, New Territories, Hong Kong. At least 128 people were killed, and 79 were injured, including 12 firefighters as of 30 November 2025. Many of those who died were trapped in their apartments. It is the third deadliest in Hong Kong's history and the deadliest since theWing On warehouse fire inShek Tong Tsui that killed 176 people in 1948.
The fire is suspected to have started with celebrationSparkler placed on champagne bottles that were carried too close to the ceiling. The majority of the victims were Swiss, but about a third were citizens of other countries, especially France and Italy.
A 7.7Mw struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba at 14:10 local time on 28 January 2020. The earthquake was also felt in the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Dominican Republic, and the Cayman Islands. No damages were reported. A small (12.2 cm) tsunami was reported in the Cayman Islands.
A 6.2 Mw earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,163 people, with 1,150 in Afghanistan and 13 in Pakistan. The earthquake was so deadly because it hit a densely populated area with buildings too weak to resist earthquakes.
A 7.8 Mw earthquake struck the Border Region ofTurkey andSyria, killing more than 60,000 people and injuring more than 180,000 people. It is also one of thestrongest earthquakes ever recorded in Turkey since the1999 İzmit earthquake.
Four 6.3 Mww earthquakes struckHerat Province in westernAfghanistan between 7–15 October 2023, killing 1,489 people and injuring 1,853 others, while 485 remain missing.
A 7.7 Mw earthquake struckSagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close toMandalay and in neighboringThailand, leaving more than 5,700 deaths, 630 missing, and 12,300 injured, it became one of the worst earthquakes in Southeast Asia since the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
An 8.8 Mw megathrust earthquake struck off the eastern coast of theKamchatka Peninsula in Russia. It is the most powerful earthquake recorded since the2011 Tōhoku earthquake in Japan.
A 6.0 Mw earthquake struck theNangarhar andKunar provinces of Afghanistan, near the border withPakistan. At least 1,124 people were killed with more than 3,500 others injured.
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck the northernVisayas archipelago, includingBogo City,San Remigio, and other provinces in thePhilippines. 79 deaths and 1,271 injuries were recorded.
Hurricane Laura was a deadly and destructiveCategory 4hurricane that, along with1856'sLast Island and2021'sIda, was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in theU.S.state ofLouisiana, based onmaximum wind strength. "Laura" first hit theLesser Antilles as a tropical storm, strikingPuerto Rico, then moved across the island ofHispaniola, killing 31 people inHaiti and nine in theDominican Republic. "Laura" caused widespread devastation along most of its track: Tropical-storm-force winds passed over nearly all of theAntilles islands; hurricane-force and tropical-storm-force winds struck parts ofFlorida, Louisiana,Texas,Mississippi, andArkansas; and much of the storm's track was affected by flooding rain and storm surge. Damage is estimated at more than $19.1 billion, and at least 81 people were killed, including 30 in Louisiana and 10 in Texas alone, making "Laura" the 16th costliest hurricane ever. With estimated agricultural losses of $1.6 billion, "Laura" caused more agricultural damage in Louisiana than HurricanesKatrina andRita combined.
Tropical Storm Linfa was a weak, short-lived, but deadly and destructivetropical cyclone. It was the12th wettest tropical cyclone on record and the second of nine consecutive tropical cyclones to strikeVietnam in2020, barely a month after the less damagingTropical Storm Noul. "Linfa" brought record-breaking rainfall totals to much of theIndochinese peninsula. 112 people died in Vietnam, and 24 are missing. Another 25 people died inCambodia, andLaos had one death and three missing.
A total of 278+ people were killed during both Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota inNicaragua andHonduras. Damages totaled up to US$9.3 billion from both hurricanes.
This category-4 cyclone hit the western coast ofIndia. 174 total fatalities recorded (all countries). Damages totaled up to US$2.12 billion. Other countries affected werePakistan,Sri Lanka andMaldives.
107 people were killed by "Ida", of which 87 people were killed in theUnited States and 20 people were killed inVenezuela. The damage amounted to up to $50 billion.
Typhoon Rai, known in thePhilippines as Super Typhoon Odette, was the second most severetyphoon in Philippine history afterTyphoon Haiyan in 2013. Rai was a strong, raretropical cyclone that struck the Philippines in December 2021. Rai was the firstcategory 5 super typhoon sinceNock-ten in 2016 to develop in December, and the third category 5 super typhoon recorded in theSouth China Sea, followingPamela in 1954 andRammasun in2014.
Several southernprovinces in the Philippines were inundated and devastated by the typhoon. A total of 410 people died + 80 missing, of which a full 409 died in the Philippines and only 1 died inVietnam. The damage amounts to up to $720 million.
Intense Tropical Cyclone Batsirai was a deadlytropical cyclone that hitMadagascar hard in February2022 and was the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Madagascar sinceCyclone Enawo in2017. It hit the country two weeks afterTropical Storm Ana brought deadlyflooding to the island nation in late January. The storm also caused damage inMauritius andRéunion, but the damage was relatively minor. 123 deaths – 121 in Madagascar and 2 in Mauritius – were reported as a result of Batsirai. Batsirai brought severe damage that significantly affected power supply and communications in the affected areas. Entire towns were devastated, and thousands of buildings were damaged or destroyed. At least 112,000 people were displaced and 124,000 homes damaged by Batsirai. The same areas were hit by an even strongerCyclone Freddy less than a year later.
Tropical Storm Megi, known in thePhilippines as Tropical Storm Agaton, was a weak but deadlytropical cyclone that struck the Philippines in April 2022. Heavy rains and storms led to the sinking of twoships. Large landslides pushed mud over villages inLeyte, burying about 210 homes. The Philippines'National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported 214 dead, 132 missing, and 8 injured.
157 people killed with 16 unaccounted for across both the United States and Cuba. The entire nation of Cuba lost power and millions lost power in the United States. TheNOAA estimated total damage to be US$113 billion.
Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae, known in thePhilippines as Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, was a very large and deadlytropical cyclone that wreaked havoc in the Philippines and later hitHong Kong andMacau. 160 people were killed, 141 others were wounded, and 29 people are still missing as a result of the landslides and flooding caused by Nalgae in the Philippines. Meanwhile, there was only 1 person injured in Hong Kong.
Cyclone Freddy was the longest-lastingtropical cyclone in history, surpassing the previous record set byHurricane John in1994. In total, more than 1,434 people died + 556 went missing, withMalawi worst hit with 1,216 dead + 537 missing, followed byMozambique with 198 dead,Madagascar with 17 dead + 3 missing,Zimbabwe with 2 dead, andMauritius with 1 dead + 16 missing. Overall, "Freddy" was the second deadliest tropical cyclone in the southwesternIndian Ocean and third deadliest in theSouthern Hemisphere.
Cyclone Mocha was a powerful and deadlytropical cyclone that caused between 152 and 463 deaths and widespread destruction, primarily inMyanmar andBangladesh.
Storm Daniel, also known as Cyclone Daniel, was the deadliest and costliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in recorded history. "Storm Daniel" resulted in thousands of Deaths, most notably in theLibyan city ofDerna, where torrential rains caused two dams near the city of Derna tofail.
Hurricane Helene was a deadly and extremely destructive tropical cyclone which devastated parts of the southeastern United States, causing at least 252 deaths and US$78.7 billion in damage, this was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane sinceHurricane Maria in 2017, and the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in the U.S. mainland sinceHurricane Katrina in 2005.
Hurricane Milton was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone which became the most intenseAtlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, tied withHurricane Rita in 2005. Total damage was estimated to be US$34.3 billion.
Hurricane Melissa was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone which became the most intenseAtlantic hurricane of the year, it is tied with the1935 Labor Day hurricane as the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms.
Typhoon Kalmaegi was a powerful, deadly, and highly destructivetropical cyclone that devastated portions of the centralPhilippines, particularly inCebu, and later struck centralVietnam as one of the strongest typhoons on record in the area during early November 2025, at least 232 people dead, 543 injured and 112 others missing in the Philippines, mostly inCebu, with 13 additional deaths in Thailand and six more in Vietnam.
A small but significant tornado outbreak swept across the Czech Republic on 24 June, resulting in the strongest ever documented tornado in modern Czech history and the deadliest European tornado since 2001.
Tornado activity swept the southern and midwestern United States in the evening of 10 December through the following morning. Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky suffered extensive damage.
43 people were killed across the Midwestern and southern United States as 116 tornadoes moved through the regions. The tornado was the largest ever in March and one of the deadliest in the 2020s. It was also one of the costliest in United States history.
At least 74 people were killed and several others injured in theNeelum Valley inAzad Kashmir,Pakistan, after a series ofavalanches triggered by heavysnowfall destroyed and buried 84 homes and 17 shops, while dozens of other buildings were damaged.
Following the highest-ever recorded rainfall inZhengzhou,Henan Province inChina, between 300 and 400 deaths along with over 800,000 people having to evacuate.
Intense rainfall led to mudslides and flooding on 15 February, that destroyed parts of the city ofPetrópolis in theBrazilianstate ofRio de Janeiro and killed more than 230 people.
Deadly floods have been hittingnortheastern India andBangladesh since May 2022, killing more than 250 people and affecting 9 million people in both countries.
Since March, more than 776 people have died in severefloods in severalAfrican countries. The worst hit was theDemocratic Republic of Congo, with over 440 dead + over 2,500 missing, andRwanda, with at least 135 dead.
Acold drop causes torrential rains in easternSpain, causing flooding in theValencian Community,Castilla-La Mancha, andAndalusia. Over a year ofprecipitation amounts was dropped over Spain, causing 219 deaths with 93 people still missing and widespread substantial damage to buildings and streets.
A devastating floods triggered by heavy pre-monsoon rains in June 2025 and continuing throughout the monsoon season into September. The disaster primarily affected Pakistani provinces ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa,Punjab,Sindh,Balochistan andAzad Kashmir, causing widespread casualties, infrastructure damage, and mass displacement. TheSwat Valley and large parts of Punjab were among the worst-hit areas.
A destructive and deadlyflooding took place in theHill Country region of the U.S. state ofTexas. During the flooding, water levels along theGuadalupe River rose rapidly. As a result, at least 135 people were killed, and at least 117 died inKerr County. The flooding was caused by amesoscale convective vortex with enhanced tropical moisture.
Severe floods and landslides caused by heavy rains attributed to remnants of storms occurred in severalMexican states, leaving at least 64 people dead, at least 257 missing, and about 100,000 houses destroyed.
On 12 January theTaal Volcano in the Philippines erupted atVEI 4 intensity, bringing intense ashfall to the surrounding areas and killing at least 3 people.
The collapse of an unstablelava dome on the summit of Semeru due to heavy rainfall triggered large pyroclastic flows, killing 48, injuring over 100 and leaving 23 missing.
TheHunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in the South Pacific erupted violently on 15 January, causing tsunamis to hit Hawaii, Japan and Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, and sent waves flooding intoNukuʻalofa.Tonga finally disqualified in theFIFA World Cup. It was the largest volcanic eruption of the 21st century.
An ongoing period ofdrought began in the country of South Africa in late October 2018 and continued into early 2021, negatively affectingfood security in the region.
Parts of Russia and eastern Europe were hit by a record-breakingheat wave in May and June 2021, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle above 30 °C and the highest temperatures recorded inMoscow andSt. Petersburg.
Extreme temperatures caused by a prolongedheat dome over western Canada and the western United States killed over 613 people including over 480 people in British Columbia alone. The village ofLytton, British Columbia, which recorded the highest temperatures in Canada, was destroyed by alarge wildfire as over 200 other ones devastated wide areas of the province. Wildfires in parts of the western coastal states of the US such asWashington,Oregon andCalifornia were also greatly worsened by the heatwave.
Over a hundred wildfires began in theMediterranean Region of theforest in Turkey, the worst in the country for at least a decade. The wildfires started inManavgat, Antalya on 28 July 2021, with the temperature around 37 °C (99 °F).
Drought developed in theWestern,Midwestern andNortheastern United States in the summer of 2020. Over the course of 2021, conditions improved in the Northeast but worsened in the Western US. As of June 2021, 97% of the region was facing abnormally dry conditions. By August 2021, parts of the upper Midwestern US were experiencing some of the worst drought spells since the 1980s. Drought also affected a wide area of Mexico as of 2021, as well as theprairies of Canada.
From mid-June through most of the summer, heat waves affected most of Europe, with western and central Europe the worst hit. Temperatures in excess of 40 °C (104 °F) were recorded in places, breaking records. Over 24,000 deaths were attributed to the event, most in France, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Portugal. The heat waves contributed to wildfires and drought also seen in Europe.
The 2020s were marked by economic troubles, beginning from theCOVID-19 recession was a major global economic crisis which has caused both arecession in some nations, and in others adepression. The economic crisis began due to theeconomic consequences of theCOVID-19 pandemic. The first major sign of a recession was the collapse of markets during the2020 stock market crash, which began in late February and lasted through March.[689][690][691][692] As of September 2020, every advanced economy is in a recession or depression, whilst all emerging economies are in recession.[693][694][695] Modeling by theWorld Bank suggests that in some regions a full recovery will not be achieved until 2025 or beyond.[696][697]
Due to the2021–2023 inflation surge, many countries reported the highest inflation rates in decades. Theinflation surge has been attributed to various causes, includingpandemic-related economic dislocation; thefiscal and monetarystimulus provided in 2020 and 2021 by governments andcentral banks around the world in response to the pandemic were also instrumental.[698][699] The effect of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on globaloil prices,natural gas,fertilizer, andfood prices further exacerbated the situation.[699] Higher gasoline prices were a major contributor to inflation as oil producers saw record profits.[700] Debate arose over whether inflationary pressures were transitory or persistent, and to what extent price gouging was a factor.[701][702]
American technology billionaires are largely the wealthiest individuals in the world, includingElon Musk,Larry Ellison,Mark Zuckerberg,Jeff Bezos, andJensen Huang. Jensen Huang is the CEO ofNvidia, the most valuable company in the world, and the wealthiest person of Asian descent.Alice Walton is the wealthiest woman in the world. Elon Musk became the first person to reach a net worth of $500 billion,[703] becoming the wealthiest person in human history, and may become the first trillionaire by 2030.Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay plan for Musk in November 2025, provided Tesla achieves certain financial milestones.[704]
37.9 million people living with HIV (end of 2018), 24.5 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy (end of June 2019), 32.0 million deaths from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic (end 2018).[716]
Below are the most significant scientific developments of each year, based on the annual Breakthrough of the Year award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science.
TheAI boom emerged in the 2020s. Generative AI such asText-to-image models andAI chatbots released publicly. Machine learning systems that took minute(s) to produce blurry images in mid 2022 were able to produce more realistic imagery in seconds by mid 2023. English text would appear asgibberish in earlier AI text-to-image builds, although this was fixed to an extent with newer AI models such as DALL-E 3.
In early 2024, OpenAI released a new technology calledSora (text-to-video model), a video modelgenerates short video clips based on userprompts, and can also extend existing short videos. Sora was released publicly for ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro users in December 2024. This has revolutionized the video industry, since this machine generates videos in shorter time, leading to more companies adopting AI videos, withCoca-Cola Christmas commercial being the first one to do so.[730][731]
The trend towards cost reduction in access to orbit is expected to continue.Vulcan is replacing its more expensive predecessors. Since 2023,SpaceX is testing its fully reusableStarship with orbital missions. In 2024,Blue Origin plans the maiden flight ofNew Glenn with a reusable first stage andAriane 6 is expected to replace the retired more expensiveAriane 5.
Mars stays a focus for missions to other planets, with three missions launched in 2020 (by China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States) and at least one mission planned for2024,2026 and2028.
In 2028, as part of theNASA-ESA Mars Sample Return mission, NASA plans to launch a Sample Retrieval Lander. In 2027, ESA plans to launch the Earth Return Orbiter, which will transport the retrieved samples from Mars to Earth by 2033. China is also planning toretrieve samples from Mars by 2031.[732]
NASA plans a return of humans to the Moon by 2026. Thefirst uncrewed launch of theSpace Launch System happened in 2022.[733]The first crewed launch is planned for March 2026.[734] In addition NASA plans to assemble theLunar Gateway in lunar orbit. A crewed exploration of Mars could follow in the mid-2030s. SpaceX, a private company, has also announced plans to land humans on Mars in the 2020s, with the long-term goal of enabling thecolonization of Mars.
India plans to launch its first crewed flight with a spacecraft calledGaganyaan on a home-grownGSLV Mark III rocket in 2025. The mission would make India the fourth nation to launch a crewed spaceflight after Russia, the US and China. India also plans to launch its second Mars probe,Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (Mangalyaan 2).
NASA'sNEO Surveyor, scheduled to launch no later than June 2028,[738] is expected to be capable of detecting at least 90% ofnear-Earth objects larger than 140 meters (460 ft), a goal mandated by the US Congress in 2005.[739]
The number ofsmall satellites launched annually was expected to grow to around one thousand (2018 estimate), mainlycommunication satellites in large constellations[740] but launches quickly exceeded this estimate, mainly due to the rapid deployment of theStarlink andOneWeb constellations. From 2020 to 2022, around 3500 Starlink satellites[741] and 500 satellites by OneWeb[742] were launched.
The number of total satellites reached 10,000 for the first time in 2024.[743]
ESU support forWindows 7 and extended support forWindows 8.1 andWindows RT ended on 10 January 2023. Some versions ofWindows 10, such as Windows 10 2106 LTSB are already out ofmainstream support, some versions are out of all support, and others soon on, i.e. 14 October 2025, while some Enterprise versions will be supported longer.
TheBBC reports that for the "first time someone who has had a complete cut to their spinal cord has been able to walk freely... because of an electrical implant that has been surgically attached to his spine".[744]
Sales ofelectric vehicles have grown significantly and this is expected to continue through the decade.[745]
NFTs as a form of digital art emerged in the 2020s, with NFTs such asEverydays: the First 5000 Days. The NFT market experienced rapid growth during 2020, with its value tripling toUS$250 million.[746] In the first three months of 2021, more thanUS$200 million were spent on NFTs,[747] and in the early months of 2021, interest in NFTs increased after a number of high-profile sales and art auctions.[748] However, by 2022 this market was in the process of rapid collapse.[749] A report in September 2023 concluded that 95% of collected NFTs now possess zero market value, and that "79% of all NFT collections remain unsold".[750]
Low-income individuals were more likely to contract the coronavirus and to die from it. In both New York City and Barcelona, low-income neighborhoods were disproportionately hit by coronavirus cases. Hypotheses for why this was the case included that poorer families were more likely to live in crowded housing and work in jobs deemed essential during the crisis, such as supermarkets and elder care. In the United States, millions of low-income people may lack access to health care due to beinguninsured orunderinsured. Millions of Americans lost theirhealth insurance after losing their jobs. Many low-income workers in service jobs became unemployed.
The coronavirus pandemic was followed by a concern for a potential spike in suicides, exacerbated by social isolation due to quarantine and social-distancing guidelines, fear, and unemployment and financial factors. Many countries reported an increase indomestic violence andintimate partner violence attributed to lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial insecurity, stress, and uncertainty led to increased aggression at home, with abusers able to control large amounts of their victims' daily life.Midlife crisis is a major concern in domestic violence, social implications and suicides for middle-aged adults amid the pandemic. UN Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres called for a domestic violence and midlife crisis "ceasefire".
24.3% of all national parliamentarians were women as of February 2019. 11 women were serving ashead of state and 12 as head of government in June 2019. 20.7% of government ministers were women as of January 2019. There are wide regional variations in the average percentages of women parliamentarians. As of February 2019, these were: Nordic countries, 42.5%; Americas, 30.6%; Europe excluding Nordic countries, 27.2%; sub-Saharan Africa, 23.9%; Asia, 19.8%; Arab States, 19%; and the Pacific, 16.3%.Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide, 61.3% of seats in the lower house. About 26% of elected local parliamentarians are women.[755]
Renewable energy capacity additions in 2020 expanded by more than 45% from 2019, including a 90% rise in global wind capacity and a 23% expansion of new solar photovoltaic installations.[757]
In 2024, Earth saw the highest average annual surface air temperature ever recorded, outpacing 2023 on an average basis.[758]
In July 2024, in each month in a 12-month period (through June 2024), Earth's average temperature exceeded 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial baseline,[761] and the highest daily global average temperature is recorded at 17.09 °C (62.76 °F), surpassing the previous record of 17.08 °C (62.74 °F) on 6 July 2023.[762]
Team Seas is an international collaborative fundraiser founded by YouTubersMark Rober andMrBeast on 29 October 2021, as a follow-up toTeam Trees. The fundraiser's aim was to raise US$30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean by the end of the year. They also partnered with theOcean Cleanup and theOcean Conservancy.
Members of the United Nations agree on a legal framework for theHigh Seas Treaty on 4 March 2023, which aims to protect 30% of the world'soceans by 2030.
Switzerland banned discrimination based on sexuality due to a referendum, putting into effect a law previously introduced in 2018, that was subsequently blocked by the government that requested a referendum to be held on the matter first.[764]
By October 2022, Mexico City and all Mexican states hadlegalized same-sex marriage, either by legislation, executive action, or Supreme Court order.[769]
A report by theWorld Resources Institute assesses the state ofnationally determined contributions (NDCs), finding they need to be strengthened by about six times for alignment with what may be enough to reach the Paris Agreement's 1.5 °C goal.[772][773] TheUNFCCC's NDC synthesis report suggests that based on the latest NDCs thecarbon budget for a 50% likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5 °C would be used up by around 2032.[774][775][776][777]
ALancet Countdown report publishes data of indicators that show "countries and companies continue to make choices that threaten the health and survival of people in every part of the world". It calls for an immediate, health-centred response at a critical juncture of recovery from crises.[774][778]
TheWMO reports atmospheric levels of the three maingreenhouse gases, carbon dioxide,methane andnitrous oxide, all reached record highs, with methane concentrations showing a record jump in 2021. The WMO Secretary-General concludes that "we are heading in the wrong direction", with time "running out".[779][780]
Climate Action Tracker systematicallyassesses the state of progress of actions of climate goals in an overview, finding that none of the indicators is on track to reach their 2030 targets, with insufficient speed for six indicators, and well below the required pace for 21, five heading in the wrong direction, and data being insufficient to evaluate the remaining eight.[781][782][783]
TheUNEP's Emissions Gap Report finds that no credible "pathway" to the 1.5 °C climate goal is in place.[784][785][786][787][788] Similarly, aUNFCCC synthesis about "long-term low-emission development strategies" warns that many net-zero targets "remain uncertain and postpone into the future critical action that needs to take place now".[789][790]
An annual report by theWorld Resources Institute shows that tropical regions lost 9.3 million acres of primary old-growth forest in 2021, a decline of 11% from 2020, and about equal to both 2018 and 2019.[791][792]
The Forest Declaration Assessment finds that a drop of only 6.3% in deforestation in 2021 is "leaving the world off track from its goals of ending forest loss by 2030".[793][794][795][796]
The UN's "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" report finds that the number of people affected byhunger globally rose by 46 million to 828 million in 2021. 3.1 billion people could not afford ahealthy diet in 2020, an increase of 112 million from 2019.[797][798]
AWHO report indicates collective progress toward a 15% relative reduction in population levels of physical inactivity by 2030 is insufficient and that about 500 million people will developheart disease,obesity,diabetes orother diseases if they don't increase theirphysical activity.[799][800]
Human Development Index (HDI): the Human Development Report 2021-22 concludes that for the first time, the global HDI value declined for a second year, withliving standards declining in 90% of countries.[810][811][812]
AirPods have dominated the wireless headphone market in the early 2020s. Pictured are the base and "Pro" model of AirPods respectively. AirPods allow users to be several feet away from their device viaBluetooth, a technology not seen in wired earbuds of previous decades.
Flashy multi-colored clothing became a trend in the early 2020s, as did baggier clothing such as hoodies, modeled here by musicianBillie Eilish. The 2020s revived and built uponY2K fashion trends.
In the 2020s, multiple online food delivery services such asDoorDash,Uber Eats,Postmates,Grubhub, andJust Eat Takeaway became popular, becoming popular during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Fooddelivery robots also became popular in the 2020s and were finally to the point they could be used to deliver food around larger areas such as collegecampuses.
5G was introduced in smartphones during the early part of the decade, with theSamsung Galaxy Flip andiPhone 12 smartphones having 5G capabilities.Foldable smartphones also became more popular, although concern grew about the durability of foldable smartphones, as some foldable smartphones have become crinkled / will crease over time. As well, some foldable smartphones break more easily.
TheFourth Industrial Revolution in the 2020s is referred to as industrial change with emerging technologies such asAI,gene editing, andadvanced robotics that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Automation also continues to take over human jobs. Above is a photo of aTesla Bot, whichTesla, Inc. hopes to begin selling by 2027.
The early 2020s started with a rise invideoconferencing due to the pandemic, while many educational institutions and workplaces shifted todistance learning andremote work during and after the pandemic. Large-scale video conferencing became a reality and more common during the 2020s.
The decade saw the rise of eco-friendly wooden architecture, such as theGrand Ring bySou Fujimoto as the symbol of the famousExpo 2025 held between April and October 2025 inOsaka.
The 2020s was a more profitable era for movies based on video games.The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in 2023 and surpassed $1 billion, and Nintendo plans to open a group of international theme parks calledSuper Nintendo World and a Nintendo Museum between 2021 and 2025.
Apple Vision Pro, which was released in 2024, marks an advancement in spatial computing andmixed reality headsets. The device intends to merge physical and digital environments, overlaying computer graphics on each individual user's real-world environments.
During the 2020s, the idea ofbrain implants existed in an early, limited form. The companyNeuralink and a research group demonstrated the ability for a monkey to move a computer cursor with neural signals, typing coherent sentences.
Cloud computing has surged in popularity following and during the global pandemic of 2020. Cloud computing allows for data to be stored indata centers and looked up on any device, rather than the photos, notes, etc. of a device being restricted to just that device.
TheSustainable Development Goals promote seventeen interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future". Pictured above is a diagram listing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are intended to be completed by the end of the 2020s.
Social media rebranding occurred during the 2020s, with Facebook, Inc. and Twitter changing their names toMeta Platforms andX (though many people continue to call it Twitter). New social platforms such asThreads andBluesky also launched.
The fashion of the early 2020s was characterized by a variety of styles and influences from different eras. During this period, the trend towards individuality and self-expression in clothing continued.Young millennials andGeneration Z has witnessed and enjoyed a notable resurgence of fashion styles from the1980s,1990s, and2000s in the fashion industry. A prominent example of this is the revival of trends such ascrop tops,baggy jeans, and elements from theY2K aesthetic.[813][814]
Sustainable fashion practices gained significance, with an increased awareness of environmentally friendly materials and production processes. Influences fromsocial media culture were also unmistakable, as influencers and celebrities exerted a strong influence on fashion trends. The popularity of online platforms likeInstagram andTikTok contributed to the rapid spread of trends, while simultaneously allowing niche styles and subcultures to flourish.[815]
In 2023, the filmsBarbie andOppenheimer were both released on the same day, which led to the creation of the double feature phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer". Both films became critically and commercially successful with both receiving a nomination forBest Picture at the96th Academy Awards, and the latter winning both the award and nabbingChristopher Nolan's firstBest Director award.
During a live broadcast of the94th Academy Awards in 2022, audiences across the auditorium and at home watched in shock as actor and musicianWill Smith, who was nominated for, and won,Best Actor that evening for his performance in the biographical filmKing Richard,slapped comedian and actorChris Rock, who was presentingBest Documentary Feature, across the face after making a joke about Smith's wifeJada Pinkett Smith. Following that ceremony's incident, after receiving his Oscar, Smith was suspended from the academy for ten years.
Theninth generation of consoles began in 2020. The industry remains dominated byNintendo,Sony, andMicrosoft with the release of theXbox Series X/S and thePlayStation 5, while theNintendo Switch continues to be popular from the previous decade. Technological advancements in consoles included support for real-timeray tracing graphics and output for4K or even8K resolution. Physical media continued to be replaced by online distribution of games, with the Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition lacking an optical drive.[4] TheSteam Deck was released in 2022 asValve's attempt to bringPC-level gaming to a Nintendo Switch-style handheld format.[835][836]
During the decadePC gaming would continue growing rapidly with the console gaming market remaining more stagnant.[837] The growing majority of video game developers would also primarily focus on developing their projects for PC.[838]Mobile gaming remained the largest sector of the video game industry during the decade, accounting for roughly half of the industry's revenue.[839]
TheUnity Tower inKraków was finally completed on 30 September 2020. The construction of the building originally started in 1975 but stopped permanently in 1981 because of economic constraints and political unrest at the time. Due to the unfinished building's resemblance to askeleton, it was nicknamed afterSkeletor, thearch-villain inHe-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which was popular in Poland at the time construction began.[846]
The Grand Ring was built and designed by the Japanese firms Tohata Architects and Azusa Sekkei, the building became the symbol of the famousExpo 2025 inOsaka, Japan.[850][851] It was recognized by theGuinness World Records as the world's largest architectural structure (certified area: 61,035.55 m2).[852][853][850][854][855]
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation or rescheduling of numerous sporting events globally. The2020 Summer Olympics andParalympics inTokyo were postponed to July–August 2021. This was the first Olympic Games to be postponed rather than cancelled in history since World War II.[857]
The International Olympic Committee has begun a new policy of authorizing up to 5 additional sports per edition of the Olympic Games, and this rule applies to both the Summer and Winter Games. This rule came into effect starting with the2020 Summer Olympics.[860]
Basketball has been characterized by significant global growth and dominance in strong youth engagement, the2023 FIBA World Cup followed byGermany won by defeatingSerbia.[872]
Due to theCOVID-19 restrictions,online grocery shopping has substantially grown and in the first few months of the pandemic, online grocery shopping increased by 300%.[877] Before the pandemic occurred, food shopping activity accounted for 9% of the market, now 63% of consumers worldwide have purchased more groceries online after the outbreak than they did before they were socially isolated.[878]
^abcdWilliams, Brody (23 October 2025)."How Democrats Became the Party of the Well-to-Do".The New York Times. Retrieved23 October 2025.By 2024, the realignment of income and political party was complete. Americans with more money voted for Kamala Harris while Donald Trump won among the working class.
^Kimmage, Michael (25 February 2025)."The World Trump Wants: American Power in the New Age of Nationalism".Foreign Affairs. Vol. 104, no. 2. Retrieved18 March 2025.They are self-styled strongmen who place little stock in rules-based systems, alliances, or multinational forums. They embrace the once and future glory of the countries they govern, asserting an almost mystical mandate for their rule. Although their programs can involve radical change, their political strategies rely on strains of conservatism, appealing over the heads of liberal, urban, cosmopolitan elites to constituencies animated by a hunger for tradition and a desire for belonging.
^Frank, Michael (22 September 2023)."US Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Can Shape the 21st Century Global Order".The Diplomat.Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved8 December 2023.Instead, the United States has developed a new area of dominance that the rest of the world views with a mixture of awe, envy, and resentment: artificial intelligence... From AI models and research to cloud computing and venture capital, U.S. companies, universities, and research labs – and their affiliates in allied countries – appear to have an enormous lead in both developing cutting-edge AI and commercializing it. The value of U.S. venture capital investments in AI start-ups exceeds that of the rest of the world combined.
^Sullivan, Mark P., ed. (18 December 2008)."Mexico – U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress"(PDF).CRS Report for Congress: Mexico and the 112th Congress. Congressional Research Service. pp. 2, 13, 14.Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved19 December 2019.
^White, Nadine (5 August 2024)."Street beatings, stabbing and mosques under siege: the horrifying racist attacks carried out by far-right mobs".The Independent.Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved5 August 2024.A Black man beaten by a mob, an Asian man stabbed at a train station and mosques under siege - just some of the horrifying racist incidents carried out by far-right thugs in England this week. The country has been engulfed by racist riots over the past few days, in the wake of the killings of three young girls in Southport on Monday.
^"The strange death of the centre right: Moderate conservatives have allowed themselves to be marginalized by their populist rivals".The New Statesman. 15 March 2025. Retrieved15 January 2025.Before Labour entered power, shadow cabinet ministers spoke of the prospect of a "progressive moment". The hope was that Keir Starmer and other centre-left leaders would unite in a quasi-reenactment of the late 1990s. That dream died on 6 November 2024 when Donald Trump comfortably defeated Kamala Harris. But it is not only Mr. Trump's victory that is evocative of a reactionary moment. Germany's Olaf Scholz – a close ally of Mr Starmer – lost a vote of confidence last year and [was] defeated by the Christian Democrats in next month's general election. The Social Democrats are not only polling behind their traditional rival but also the far-right AfD.
^abcdKornacki, Steve (18 March 2025)."Steve Kornacki: White men, white women, and the gap within the gender gap". NBC News. Retrieved19 March 2025.New NBC News polling data illustrates the cultural and political gulf separating white men without college degrees and white women with college degrees. ... On one end are white men without four-year college degrees. This is a generally blue-collar demographic that is now deeply aligned with Trump and opposed to progressive politics. On the other end are white women with at least four-year college degrees. This is a more affluent demographic that has been racing leftward, particularly on cultural issues, and is squarely opposed to Trump. ... Of course, there are plenty of white voters who don't fall into either of these categories. As groups, college-educated white men and non-college-educated white women lack similarly sharp political definition and cohesion.
^"Understanding Europe's Political Turmoil".UCLA Luskin. 12 July 2024. Retrieved12 June 2025.News organizations covering political upheaval in Europe have turned to the 2024 Berggruen Governance Index (BGI) for a deeper understanding of nations' capacity to meet the needs of their people. PA Media cited the index's finding that "long-term scars" caused by austerity and Brexit have stifled economic growth and undermined social cohesion in Britain.
^ab"Canada's new Conservative movement resembles Donald Trump's".The Economist. 30 April 2025. Retrieved1 May 2025.Just as in the United States, working-class and immigrant voters swung right. ... The two best predictors of the margin shift between the major parties are education and immigration. Holding all else constant, the Liberals gained ground relative to the Conservatives in ridings with more university graduates and native-born voters. Conversely, they fell back in places with more foreign-born residents and voters who lack degrees.
^Beauchamp, Zack (28 May 2025)."Why the left gets the far right wrong".Vox. Retrieved18 November 2025.This is not to deny that voters care about material concerns. It's obvious that inflation was a central reason for Trump's 2024 victory. … This is a fundamentally post material account of far-right politics. It argues that the right wins not by channeling people's displaced economic anger, but by articulating ideas that match their deeply held beliefs, values, and identities.
^"Is British politics broken? Its centre is cracking".The Economist. 11 September 2025. Retrieved12 September 2025.In fact, the Brexit referendum of 2016 accelerated a trend in which age and education, rather than class, are the best predictors of voting behavior. … This is splitting left-leaning young graduates from right-leaning pensioners.
^Glasser, Brad (8 November 2024)."The Democrats join a long list of global parties wrecked by post-pandemic backlash".Semafor.Four years after the pandemic, governing dysfunction is the story of almost every democracy on the planet, with few examples defying the trend. On nearly every continent, opposition movements have charged ahead in polls, unseated incumbents or lodged in-some-cases historic election gains against a global backdrop of inflation and agitation.
^Williams, Aime (6 August 2025)."Donald Trump's new tariff regime deepens global trade war".Financial Times. Retrieved8 August 2025.Donald Trump's global tariffs took effect at 12.01am in Washington on Thursday, pushing American import duties to their highest level in a century as the US president launched a new era of trade rivalry.
^Chait, Jonathan (13 January 2025)."Maybe It Was Never About the Factory Jobs".The Atlantic. Retrieved15 January 2025.The theory that populist economic policies can win back the working class for Democrats has been tried, and it has failed.
^"Labour has become the Party of Britain's rich".The Economist. 11 September 2025.This is the first such study conducted since [the] hard-right Reform UK party surged into first place in polls earlier this year. ... The party is particularly popular with older voters and those who did not attend university. Less than one in 20 supporters are non-white ... and 57% are men.
^Kornacki, Steve (7 January 2025)."The parts of the country that have seen the biggest political shifts during the Trump era".NBC News. Retrieved13 November 2025.Here are the 25 counties that have moved toward the Republican Party by the largest margins during the Trump era. ... Starr and Elliott both embody one of the two demographic features common to all 25 of those GOP-trending counties. [Ten] counties on the list also have majority-Hispanic populations, with concentrations from 51% to 95%. That basic profile also fits [fifteen] other counties on the list — heavily white and blue-collar. ... At the other end of the spectrum, there are the 25 areas that have moved the most decisively toward Democrats during the Trump era. ... The remaining 16 counties on the list stand out for two reasons. One is their wealth. Eleven of them feature six-figure median household incomes. ... Those 16 places also have large populations of white residents with four-year college degrees.
^Piketty, Thomas (20 March 2018)."Brahmin Left vs Merchant Right: Rising Inequality and the Changing Structure of Political Conflict"(PDF). Retrieved13 November 2025.High-education & high-income voters might also unite in the future, giving rise to a complete realignment of the party system: globalists (high-education, high-income) vs nativists (low-education, low-income). Like in post-communist Europe?
^abHiggins, Andrew (2 June 2025)."Caught Between Two Wests: New Global Divide Runs Straight Through Poland".The New York Times. Retrieved23 July 2025.The country's government is centrist, with deep ties to Brussels. Its new president is a Trump-backed nationalist. That reflects a broader struggle. ... Battles have raged over divisive issues like migration, abortion, and LGBT rights. ... No longer united by faith in a single model, Poland and other countries on the European Union's eastern flank now find themselves caught between the populist nationalism of Mr. Trump and defenders of the old post-Cold War liberal order.
^Corey, Elizabeth (9 September 2024)."The Future of Conservatism".Project Syndicate.Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved9 September 2024.
^Beauchamp, Zack (17 July 2024)."Why the far right is surging all over the world".Vox.Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved8 August 2025.But its rise illustrates something vitally important: That Germany, of all countries, could fail to prevent a surge in reactionary and antidemocratic politics suggests there's something eternal and enduring about the reactionary spirit.
^Burn-Murdoch, John (7 November 2024)."Democrats join 2024's graveyard of incumbents".Financial Times. Retrieved8 November 2024.That different politicians, different parties, different policies and different rhetoric deployed in different countries have all met similar fortunes suggests that a large part of Tuesday's American result was locked in regardless of the messenger or the message. The wide variety of places and people who swung towards Trump also suggests an outcome that was more inevitable than contingent.
^Glatsky, Genevieve (31 July 2024)."Venezuela's Election Was Deeply Flawed. Here's How".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved2 August 2024.It had already been clear for months that Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday, would not be free or fair, as the government jailed opposition leaders or disqualified them from running for office, and prevented millions of Venezuelans abroad from voting.
^"Trump-Style Candidate Heads to Runoff in Chile's Election". 16 November 2025. Retrieved17 November 2025.Many observers say her proposals are more in line with the center-left, reformist agenda embraced by Mr. Boric. She has promised to make pensions more generous, lower electricity bills and build tens of thousands of new homes.
^Nugent, Ciara (26 November 2025)."Far right poised to win Chile's presidency".Financial Times. Retrieved16 November 2025.Veteran far-right politician José Antonio Kast is the favourite to win Chile's presidency after 70 per cent of voters backed right-leaning candidates in a first-round election
^"Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. Synthesis report by the secretariat".unfccc.int. Retrieved31 October 2022.In the context of the carbon budget consistent with 50 per cent likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5 °C (500 Gt CO2), cumulative CO2 emissions in 2020–2030 based on the latest NDCs would likely use up 86 per cent of the remaining carbon budget, leaving a post-2030 carbon budget of around 70 Gt CO2, which is equivalent to approximately two years of projected total global CO2 emissions by 2030.
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