January 31: North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Tens of thousands of Mexican farmers protest in Mexico City against the lifting of corn tariffs, which took place on January 1 under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Protesters claim the elimination of trade barriers, as well as unfair government subsidies for farmers in Canada and the United States, will put many Mexican farmers out of business. The farmers and some opposition leaders call for renegotiation of some NAFTA provisions.
March 16: United Nations
More than a hundred people are injured and one UN officer killed in violent clashes in the Kosovar town of Mitrovica. The incident happens during an attempt by UN forces to retake the local courthouse occupied by Serbs opposed to Kosovo’s independence. This is the worst unrest in Kosovo since its declaration of independence last month.
April 3: NATO
At its annual summit in Bucharest, NATO decides to open membership talks with Albania and Croatia. Macedonia is also invited to begin negotiations, but only after it resolves the dispute over its name with Greece, a NATO member. (Greece wants Macedonia to change its name to distinguish it from the Greece’s northern region of Macedonia.) NATO leaders also indicate that Georgia and Ukraine could become members in the future. The two countries’ membership is strongly opposed by Russia. In addition, NATO members agree to endorse the United States’ plans for missile defense bases in the Czech Republic and Poland.
April 14: World Bank
The World Bank President Robert Zoellick calls for immediate action to tackle soaring world food prices, warning that thirty-three countries are at risk of social unrest because of the food crisis. He also estimates that the rising cost of food could push 100 million people in poor countries deeper into poverty. Rising food prices have already led to violent protests and riots in Haiti, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Egypt, Cameroon, Mozambique, Senegal, and many other countries. In response to the rising food prices, many rice-exporting countries place restrictions on exports, further contributing to rising prices.
June 2: United Nations
The UN Security Council votes unanimously to allow countries to use their naval ships for the next six months to fight pirates in Somalia’s territorial waters. The Somali government has been unable to control its 1,800-mile long coast. In the past year, pirates have attacked 26 ships. Simultaneously, the UN launches peace talks with various groups involved in Somalia’s conflict.
June 17: NATO
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces that France intends to return to full participation in NATO’s integrated military command structure. Although France was a founding member of NATO in 1949, President Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from the integrated military structure in 1966, because he perceived it to be dominated by U.S. interests. Since 1995, however, France has participated in NATO’s peacekeeping missions.
July 13: International Issues
French President Nicolas Sarkozy launches the Union for the Mediterranean, a new international organization that will focus on bringing peace to the Mediterranean region and improving the European Union’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa. The union gathers 43 states, including all 27 EU members. Some key issues of the union are energy, security, counter-terrorism, immigration, trade, and environment.
July 14: International Criminal Court (ICC)
The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor accuses Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Sudan’s region, Darfur, and calls for his arrest. This is the first time a sitting president is wanted for war crimes. Sudan rejects the charges, and says that any indictment could delay peace talks.
July 21: United Nations
The former Bosnian Serb leader and one of the world’s most wanted men, Radovan Karadzic, is arrested 13 years after he was indicted by the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He faces charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during Bosnia’s civil war, including the siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Karadzic had been living and working in disguise under an alias in Belgrade.
July 23: World Trade Organization (WTO)
The African island state of Cape Verde joins the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming its 153rd member. While many businesspeople in Cape Verde agree that the membership will strengthen the competitiveness of their businesses, some worry that the country is not capable of competing in the international arena.
September 2: NATO
Thousands of NATO, U.S., and Afghan troops successfully deliver a massive hydroelectric power turbine to the Kajaki dam in southern Afghanistan. A 100-vehicle convoy stretching for 2.5 miles passed through the most dangerous Taliban-controlled part of the country. The allied troops killed more than 200 insurgents who attacked the convoy. The power station will supply 1.9 million people with electricity.
September 16: United Nations
The United Nations aid agencies pull out of northern Sri Lanka after the country’s government says it cannot guarantee their safety. The government is preparing a major offensive against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the north, having already pushed it out of key bases in the east. The Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority since 1976.
October 11: Group of 7
Finance ministers from the Group of 7 (G7) industrialized countries meet in Washington, DC to discuss a coordinated plan to fight the escalating global financial crisis. The G7, comprised of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy, issues a five-point action plan to stabilize the world’s financial markets. The plan includes pledges to support major banks and financial institutions and protect them from failure, as well as steps to unfreeze the flow of credit, ensure that banks can raise capital for public and private sources, and guarantee national deposit insurance programs.
October 27: International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers Ukraine a loan of $16.5 billion to help it maintain economic and financial stability. The global demand for steel, Ukraine’s main export commodity, falls, causing Ukrainian currency to plummet. Also, the country’s banks and stocks are badly hit by the global financial crisis. (October 29): The IMF, the European Union, and the World Bank grant Hungary a rescue package of $25 billion to offset the devastating results of the global economic crisis on the country’s economy and restore investor confidence. Hungary’s economy depends on overseas loans, but, as global credit has tightened, investors have pulled out.
November 16: G20
Leaders of the G20, a group of twenty rich and emerging economies, conclude a summit with agreements aimed at reviving global economic growth. Key issues agreed by the G20 include: reform of the world’s financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, maintaining open trade, improvements to financial transparency, strengthening regulations, and revamping rules that govern market manipulation and fraud.
December 2: NATO
After a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, the organization agrees that Georgia and Ukraine will join the alliance in the future, but not before implementing more reforms. Also, issues complicating these countries’ membership are territorial disputes with Russia: over Crimea in Ukraine and South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. Russia also strongly opposes its former republics becoming members of the bloc.