2015 was a highly eventful year. It was a year filled with conflict, scientific breakthroughs, economic uncertainty and a rising threat of terrorism. The Logical Indian lists the most important events of 2015 that took place around the world.
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
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From 30 November to 11 December, world leaders met in Paris to reach a conclusive global agreement to act against climate change and decrease the carbon footprint. The talks were scheduled to end on 11 December but when the day came, countries were still sparring over clauses and it seemed as if this Climate Conference too would end in futility. But a last-minute desperate pitch by the host nation France to extend the Conference by a day proved to be the deal-maker. In one final push, the world came together with an ambitious – and, yes, unprecedented – climate deal which will be our best chance to fight global warming.
Diplomacy: Bangladesh-India
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On 6 June, India and Bangladesh signed agreements to simplify their 4000-km border and thereby provide citizenship to over 50,000 people. The two nations swapped 162 enclaves and solved a territorial dispute that had admonished the complexly-divided region to poverty and economic stagnation.
Diplomacy: China-Taiwan
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On 7 November, after six decades of tension, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore. The meeting was the first of its kind since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Observers heralded the meeting as “historic” and there are presently calls for constructive dialogue between the two parties.
Diplomacy: Cuba-US
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After decades of Cold War animosity, Cuba and the US restored diplomatic relations on 20 July. Popularly called “The Cuban Thaw”, negotiations were held secretly in Canada and Vatican City, mediated by Pope Francis. In the months following July, travel sanctions were lifted from Cuba and embassies were reopened in both countries. Many economic sanctions on Cuba remain because the restoring of relations is yet to get Congressional approval in Washington. However, US President Barack Obama has publicly declared full support for uplifting of sanctions.
Europe’s Economic Crises
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Europe’s debt crises following the 2008 – 2009 recession skyrocketed unemployment and curbed economic growth. The crises were due to many reasons, one of them being the existence of a currency union but no fiscal union. The effect of the crises was different for different members of the Eurozone as states struggled to repay debts with external aid from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). • The Greek debt crisis1: On 30 June Greece became the first developed country to fail to make an IMF loan repayment. Fearing that if Greece would default, other Eurozone states would follow and thus precipitate global economic meltdown, Germany and other Eurozone states offered Greece more bailouts in exchange for implementing austerity measures. • The Greek referendum: On 5 July, the Greek people voted 61%-39% to reject the terms put forth for a third bailout for Greece. The austerity measures had severely affected Greek society. The referendum and the crisis reformed the political structure of Greek – and European – politics.
Homo Naledi
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A major breakthrough in evolutionary science was finalized when Homo naledi was described as one of modern human beings’ ancestors. After being discovered in 2013 in South African’s Rising Star cave system, the importance of Homo naledi was finally gauged on 10 September when scientists declared it as an extinct hominim. The fossils are yet to be dated due to the limitations of radiocarbon dating.
Iran Nuclear
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Deal After 20 months of hectic negotiations and global uncertainty about it, Iran signed a historic nuclear deal with the P5+1 and the EU on 14 July. In brief, under the deal’s provisions, Iran agreed to cut its low-enriched uranium stockpile by 98%, eliminate its medium-enriched uranium stockpile, reduce by two-thirds the number of its centrifuges and not build any uranium-enriching facilities for 1 https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/exclusive/the-greek-debt-crisis-explained/ 15 years. In return for Iran abiding by these commitments, the US and the EU agreed to lift the several sanctions imposed on Iran.
ISIL
Image Courtesy: philwalter 2015 saw the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). On 7 March, Nigeria-based terror group Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIL and has since carried out attacks in Nigeria and Chad. 21 Egyptian Christians were beheaded by ISIL on 15 February. On 26 June an unprecedented wave of terror attacks struck in France, Kuwait, Somalia, Syria and Tunisia. The day came to known as “Black Friday”. As of…
