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RIA Novosti’s choice: ten major international events of 2009

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RIA Novosti presents the past year’s ten most important global events, as chosen by its correspondents.

RIA Novosti presents the past year’s ten most important global events, as chosen by its correspondents.

Barack Obama’s first presidential year from his inauguration to the Nobel Peace Prize award


People in the United States and the rest of the world pinned great hopes on Barack Obama, the first Afro-American president in the country’s history. He tried to justify these hopes during the first year of his presidency.

Obama’s domestic priority was to prevent economic depression. He signed an economic recovery plan to take the U.S. out of the financial crisis. Obama recognized the fault of the American financial system in causing the global economic upheaval.

On the world stage, Obama concentrated his efforts on changing America’s image in the world. He started by “resetting” U.S.-Russian relations and renounced missile defense deployment in Eastern Europe, which was a source of concern in Russia. At the same time, his decision to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan and his subsequent acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize provoked debate. The award seems to have been given for promises rather than actions.

Russia and NATO resume full-scale cooperation

NATO foreign ministers decided to resume full-scale cooperation with Russia at a meeting in Brussels on March 5. At its unofficial meeting of foreign ministers on the island of Corfu, Greece, the Russia-NATO Council reached agreement on the resumption of cooperation on security matters. Formally, the Council met at the foreign minister level in Brussels on December 4 to endorse plans of cooperation for the near future. This was its first meeting after the conflict in Georgia in 2008. NATO’s relations with Russia, which deteriorated after Russia defended South Ossetia from Georgian aggression, have begun to improve.

The Treaty of Lisbon enters into force


In early November Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, signed the Treaty of Lisbon, thereby completing its ratification by European Union (EU) countries. The Treaty provides for a number of EU institutional reforms and a new procedure for the formation of the European Commission from 2014. It has introduced the positions of EU president and foreign minister. On November 19, the EU leaders unanimously elected Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as EU president, and Catherine Ashton, the current European commissioner for trade from Britain as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security. A number of politicians believe the EU’s reforms will help improve its relations with Russia.

Disarmament and security: START, ABM and a treaty on European security

In the outgoing year the United States and Russia tried to prove to each other and the rest of the world that the legacy of the Cold War has been relegated to the past. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed concluding a new treaty on European security to the countries of NATO, the EU, CSTO, CIS, and OSCE. Russia suggests creating such a mechanism of maintaining peace in Europe, which would prevent its monopolistic use by any state or international organization.

The United States has adjusted its plans for deploying a missile defense system near Russia’s borders in Eastern Europe, which drew serious criticism from Russia. However, it has not fully renounced, but merely suspended its plans to deploy elements of a ground-based missile defense system in Europe until 2015.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the United States expired on December 5. For 15 years it had secured steady reduction of their nuclear potentials. During the past year both sides have failed to agree on the mechanisms of verification for the new treaty, which is expected to be signed in January.

North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests

This year North Korea shocked the world twice. On April 4, it launched a multi-stage missile, which can be used for military purposes and on May 25, it conducted a nuclear weapons test. That was North Korea’s response to international, primarily U.S., pressure over its nuclear program. As a result, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea, allowing inspections of cargoes on its ships and aircraft if it is thought they are related to its nuclear or missile programs. Pyongyang said that these sanctions amounted to a “declaration of war” and walked out of the six-party talks on the nuclear problem that had been conducted by Russia, the United States, China, North and South Korea, and Japan since 2003. By the end of the year, emissaries of the new U.S. administration persuaded Pyongyang to understand the need for multi-sided dialogue.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the swine flu outbreak a global pandemic for the first time in more than 40 years

On June 11, the World Health Organization raised its alert of pandemic to the sixth and highest level due to the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus throughout the world. The first cases of the virus, which came to be called swine flu, were registered in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Later on the virus spread to other countries.

By December 6, swine flu killed 9,596 people globally and had been documented in 208 countries. The infection rate from swine flu has decreased in the majority of countries in Western and Eastern Europe with the exception of France, where the situation remains grave due to the general growth in the number of flu-like cases. The new virus remains active in Russia but experts expect it to pass its activity peak before long.

Gas war between Russia and Ukraine and continued political crisis in Ukraine

This year the already traditional gas war between Russia and Ukraine lasted a record time. Gazprom stopped supplying Ukraine with fuel on January 1 for lack of a contract and fully discontinued gas deliveries to Europe on January 7 after Ukraine shut down transit gas pipelines. As a result, many European countries, primarily in Eastern Europe, encountered difficulties with gas supplies for household and industrial customers. Transit resumed on January 20 after the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers reached agreement and Gazprom and Naftogaz signed ten-year contracts.

Despite occasional disputes, over the past three years Russia has not stopped gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe. Talks between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta in November convinced Russian politicians that there would be no new gas war. Europe is worried that there might be a repetition due to the election campaign in Ukraine, which will end in mid-January. On the other hand, the EU is not going to resolve Kiev’s problems: this year it did not grant Ukraine a loan to help ensure its ability to pump gas to Europe.

Unrest in Chisinau and political crisis in Moldova

Parliamentary elections on April 5 in Moldova ended in massive unrest. The political situation has still not been stabilized. The elections were won by the ruling Communist Party, prompting its opponents to attack the buildings housing the parliament and presidential administration in Chisinau.

Making a concession to the opposition, the authorities ordered a recount but this did not change the alignment of forces in parliament. The new parliament did not last long. The opposition parliamentary parties twice wrecked voting in the presidential elections (according to Moldova’s Constitution, the president is elected by parliament), and parliament was dissolved. The current parliament was formed on the basis of early elections on July 29. Due to the unrest President Vladimir Voronin, who had led Moldova since 2001, resigned. Members of parliament are unable to reach consensus and elect a new president. On December 7, the election of a president failed for the third time - former Speaker Marian Lupu collected 53 votes instead of the required 61.

LTTE rout and the end of civil war waged in Sri Lanka since 1983

An end was put to a civil war waged in Sri Lanka since 1983 which has killed at least 80,000 people. On May 18, the military command officially announced the end of a military operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers. All of the Tigers’ commanders, including Velupillai Prabhakaran, were killed. For all these years the separatists waged an armed struggle for an independent state in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern regions, predominantly populated by the Tamils. The Sri Lankan population rejoiced at the victory of the government forces.

Scandalous presidential elections in Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai won presidential elections for a second term in office on August 20, but his victory was marred by fraud. A second round was announced in November, but it did not take place because Karzai’s main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the elections because of the fear of further destabilization in the country. The Taliban intensified terror and intimidation during the first round and a new election could be even worse and cause more violence. U.S. President Barack Obama decided to increase American troop numbers in Afghanistan by 30,000 in order to complete the anti-terrorist operation launched by his predecessor George W. Bush and give the Afghan people an opportunity to guarantee their security themselves.

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