2016 was the year of the unexpected. From the death of Castro, the Brexit, the terror attack in Nice to the Elections of Donald Trump it was a year rich of emotions and important in terms of World Events. Here is YoungDiplomats Top 10.
10/ Colombia Finally in Peace :
Colombia’s government signed a new peace accord with Farc rebels , after a previous deal was rejected in a referendum last month. The deal is aimed at ending five decades of armed conflict, which has killed more than 260,000 people. After four years of formal talks between rebel and government negotiators, the two sides reached an agreement earlier in 2016.
9/ Corruption : Brazil and South Korea impeach their presidents :
2016 was a bad year for corruption. From Asia to South American , corrupted leaders were impeached. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South Korean President Park Geun-hye paid the prices for their corruption Scandals. Petrobas for Dilma Roussef and personal corruption for President Park. These situations are highly perilous for 2017 since the two countries are the 9th and 10th economies in the World. Additionally Brazil is Latin America superpower and South Korea is located in a strategic area, which can trigger anytime a war with his bellicist Northern neighbor, North Korea.
8/ Syria, The Fall of Aleppo
A Turning point in the Syrian Civil War. Pro-governmental forces supported heavily by Russia , Iran and Hezbollah took back Aleppo from Rebels. The city was blocked and sieged by governmental forces since many months. Thanks to this medieval tactic and to an incredible number of Russian airstrikes, Assad was able to re-took Aleppo , the biggest city in the country. The rebels are now weak and remains only in the region of Idlib, their last stronghold in Syria. This victory by the regime is likely to push the rebels to accept a forced political solution since Aleppo was the only major urban center they controlled.
7/ The Failure of Military Coup in Turkey
A Military Coup was attempted by Turkish Military in July. Thousands of soldiers took places in the street and in communications centers in Istanbul and everywhere in the country. Turkye that has a long history of military coup, repelled the pustchists thanks to the help of the police and the civilians. Erdogan demonstrated that it would not be easy to overthrown him and that he had a strong grip on the country and remained very popular in its country. The aftermath was a giantic purge in the country ( More than 100,000 officials have been arrested or fired,) that virtually eliminated all Erdogan’s opponents in every sphere of society , putting in danger Turkish Democracy. Fethula Gulen was accused to be behind the coup , besides living in USA.
6/ Rodrigo Duterte Becomes President of the Philippines
For the First times Phillipes elected a populist and strongly anti-american president. He launched a barbarian war on drugs and transformed Phillipines into a battlezone with thousands of supposed drug dealers being murdered without trial in the first week of its presidence. Its contested policies and strong methods made him popular in his country, but Human Rights Organizations are strongly condemning him and his governments. Slowly but surely the consequences of his elections push Phillipines away from the US (their traditional ally) and push them toward China and Russia.
5/ The Terror Attacks of Nice
At least 84 people were killed and dozens more injured when a lorry deliberately drove into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, on July 14th 2016. The driver of the truck, named as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was shot dead by police. After this attack France intensified its attacks in Syria and Irak against the Islamic State and prolonged the state of emergency in the country. France Intelligence’s Services have been severely criticized following 4 terror attacks in French soil in 18 months.
4/ North Korea conducts Nuclear Missiles Tests
North Korea said it hit the button on its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test in 2016, claiming to have successfully detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets. North Korean leader clearly threatened South Korea and the US. Because of it North Korea is about to loose is only ally in the World, China, that is exasperated by the childish behavior of North Korean Leader.U.S. President Barack Obama warned North Korea that it will face “consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions.” but did nothing.
3/ Brexit : Britain unexpected leave of the EU
Brexit is an abbreviation for “British exit,” which refers to the June 23, 2016, referendum whereby British citizens voted to exit the European Union. The referendum roiled global markets, including currencies, causing the British pound to fall to its lowest level in decades. Prime Minister David Cameron, who supported the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union, resigned on July 13 as a result. Home Secretary Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, became Prime Minister. In terms of Foreign Policy , the UK will get closer to the US.
2/ Russians hackers and US elections
Hacked email systems belong to the Democratic National Committee were hacked by Russians Pirates linked to the Kremlin according to the US intelligence community. The CIA and the FBI confiremd that they passed emails of Hilary Clinto to Wikileaks for release. These hackers were apparently working for the GRU, Russia’s intelligence agency. The FBI and the CIA that They revealed embarrassing communications among Clinton aides, potentially hurting her with voters. In October, U.S. officials publicly blamed the Russian government. The initial charge was that Russia was trying to create turmoil in the election and thereby damage American democracy. To confirm it, news leaked recently that the CIA had concluded after thorough examination with “high confidence” that Russia had acted to help elect President Trump and that Vladimir Putin personally authorized the operation. The FBI confirmed these conclusions.
1/ Donald Trump win the US Elections
Massive and unexepected Trump’s victory at the US elections. Against all odds Trump was able to win the elections and did a great score compared to the score of Hilary Clinton. His Foreign Policy remains mysterious, but building a wall and cooperating with Russia are two of his main campaign theme , besides helping and re-connecting with Israel. Trump Road to victory was not easy and very long but defying all odds he managed to win. His Foreign Policy is likely to be much more hawkish than Obama’s one.