By Igor Bakharev
Leadership change was a common theme within the G8 countries, as nationalist right-winger Shinzo Abe replaced Richard Gere twin Junichiro Kouizumi as Japanese PM, Christian Democrat Angela Merkel defeated Gerhard Schroeder to become
The shift toward socialism by Latin American countries continued but was by no means the trend, as
The tinderbox that is the Middle East somehow became even more complicated as radical Islamist group Hamas replaced Fatah as Palestine’s ruling party, attracting sanctions and scorn from western governments. Continuing the theme of leadership change, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke in April, leaving his deputy Ehud Olmert in charge. Within months, Olmert’s ability was tested as radical Islamic Hezbollah, backed by a rocket barrage (and by Syria/Iran), launched a cross-border raid and prompted a IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) response. The approximately month long conflict ended in a stalemate, cost 900 lives(mostly civilians), destroyed the IDF’s veneer of invincibility and propelled Hezbollah’s leader Nasrallah to mega-star status in the Islamic world. Elsewhere,
On the domestic front we saw George Bush’s approval rating hover in low 30’s and his administration become mired in what seemed to be an endless stream of scandal and controversy. Social security reform fell flat, the Valerie Plame scandal tainted key members of the administration for outing a spy, and the row over the torture of enemy combatants made for a nightmarish political year. Meanwhile, the war in
This all culminated in a dramatic vote of no confidence by voters, who, spurred on by congressional corruption and debauchery (Mark Foley) ousted the Republicans and ended their twelve year control of Congress. A day later, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was sacked (finally!) in favor of former CIA chief Robert Gates.
Economic performance was mixed. Although the gap between the richest and the poorest kept growing and oil prices gave us per-gallon rates not seen since the seventies, the Dow Jones hit record highs and the housing bubble remained intact.
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