What was the biggest event of 2014?
Was it the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shootdown, the ISIL offensive, the airstrikes
by the United States and its Arab allies on Syria, or the Ebola virus outbreak?
Or was it something else?
In a year where the world’s
population reached 7.28 billion, Gregorian Year MMXIV has revealed perhaps more
hype, fear, drama and tragedy than we’re used to seeing, certainly in
comparison of world events with the previous two years. Perhaps in terms of
enormity the following ten events can be considered (in reverse ‘countdown’ order
of importance) the biggest, most memorable:
NUMBER TEN – Legalisation of
Euthanasia in Belgium
Not unlike the legal reforms on the
same-sex marriage debate, in terms of ethical weight, the legalisation of
euthanasia in Belgium for terminally ill patients of any age comes into effect
on February 13.
NUMBER NINE – Chibok School, Nigeria,
Kidnapping of 300 girls
Boko Haram, an Islamic Jihadist organisation,
claims responsibility for the abduction and kidnap of 276 female students on
the night of April 14-15. There is a social media campaign started worldwide
(#BringBackOurGirls) that reached 2.3 million tweets, but, as yet, there has
been no major breakthrough on this tragic event.
NUMBER EIGHT – Climate Change Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change releases its final Fifth Assessment and concludes that the world
faces “severe, pervasive, and irreversible” damage from global emissions of CO2.
And the world’s governments continue to disagree with one another on what the
world response should be.
NUMBER SEVEN – Threat of Poliomyelitis
The World Health Organization (WHO)
identifies the spread of poliomyelitis in at least ten countries to be a major
worldwide health emergency.
NUMBER SIX – Israel and Hamas
Standoff
For a seven-week period in June and
July tensions rose between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, the product of which
2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis die, including a ground offensive into Gaza
by Israel.
NUMBER FIVE – MH370 Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 Disappears
A mystery consuming billions of
dollars, and generating ongoing anguish in family members left ambiguously
behind, the March 8 disappearance of the Boeing 777 airliner is perplexing. It
is assumed to have disappeared between the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian
Ocean.
NUMBER FOUR – Russian Situation
Involving the Ukraine and Crimea
The annexation of Crimea implicates
sanctions against Russia and the temporary suspension of Russia from the G8.
The United Nations General Assembly, via a resolution, rejects the annexation
and calls Crimea part of the Ukraine. This all comes after the Sochi Winter
Olympic Games held in Russia during February 7-23.
NUMBER THREE – Ebola Epidemic in West
Africa
This February outbreak which has the
whole world’s continued attention has infected nearly 20,000 and killed 6,000;
the most ever in modern terms of infections and casualties. Most countries
around the world institute preventive and corrective policies at airports,
border crossings and seaports.
NUMBER TWO – MH17 Malaysia Airlines Flight
17 Shootdown Over Ukraine
On July 17 the world wakes to
breaking news of a commercial airliner (Boeing 777) that is shotdown over the
Ukraine by a Russian missile. 298 people perish. Days later the United Nations
Security Council issue Resolution 2166 in response to the shootdown. A major
international recovery effort and a Dutch investigation ensue.
NUMBER ONE – Islamic State Offensive
Into Northern Iraq
Nothing has struck fear and
repugnance into the hearts of Earth’s citizens in 2014 more than the rise of
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Syria (ISIL or ISIS). Using social media
to terrorise the world through the recorded beheadings of several individual hostages,
world leaders almost everywhere denounce the IS strategies as evil. Such a
conflict is most worrying for the religious undertones and overtones as
Jihadists continue to provoke the West toward a ‘holy war’.
***
2014 has been dominated more by
national and international conflicts than natural disasters. World financial market
concerns continue to unsettle consumer confidence, and major health crises (i.e.
Ebola or poliomyelitis) also worry Earth’s inhabitants in 2014.
© 2014 S. J. Wickham.
Acknowledgement: source information
from various pages on Wikipedia.
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