Most Important Intl' Events in 2019

With the beginning of 2020, I wish all readers of 'SEE' a happy year, and my best wishes to all for health and prosperity. I will stop in this article at the most important events that took place at the international areana in 2019. Those were not positive at all, as we just concluded a difficult year, full of surprises but also challenges.

We witnessed massive protests, violence and riots in Hong Kong against the extradition law of accused persons to China, before the protesters demanded comprehensive political reforms, and we saw similar demonstrations in Bolivia and then in Iran where Amnesty International said that hundreds of Iranians were killed during the demonstrations and that thousands were arrested including children under the age of fifteen.

Protests continued in Iraq in several cities, as did the cycle of violence in which the country is living since the first of October, and claimed the lives of hundreds of Iraqis. Also, the hint of the Iraqi President that he would resign was disputed among the protesters, where some accused him of "violating the constitution", while others considered his words as patriotic.

Politicians are also pided, as the pro-Iranian alliance in Parliament called for "taking legal measures against the President for violating the constitution," while the list of "victory" led by former Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi called for the president to back down from the resignation.

Moreover, Lebanon was not away from street protests because of unemployment, high cost of living, and lack of confidence between parties and citizens. This led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri and the entry of the country into chaos its limits are not yet known, particularly in the current regional circumstances.

We followed the Brexit dilemma, which puzzled the Britons before the Europeans ... This Brexit was postponed three times and led to a political crisis that lasted three and a half years, during which elections took place twice. And after obtaining the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, it will only remain up for approval in the European Parliament, so that the UK can leave the European Union on January 31, 2020 after 47 years of British-European life.

The scorching heat waves in Australia fueled forest fires that swept parts of the country, and the uncontrolled flames have surrounded Sydney under "catastrophic" conditions. As fires erupted in the north, south and west about 130 km from Australia's largest city, Sydney plunged into toxic smoke. The fires have so far swept at least three million hectares (7.4 million feddans) of land, an area the size of Belgium. Not to mention the killing of humans, the destruction of homes and the loss of millions of animal species.

After a full year marked by climate catastrophes and calls by millions of young people who took to the streets in support of young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and warning scientific reports, the Paris Climate Agreement signatories were exposed to unprecedented pressure during the recent Conference of the Parties chaired by Chile, but actually took place in Madrid because of the crisis in Chile ..

Then After two weeks of difficult negotiations, the United Nations summit in Madrid failed to reach an agreement on the rules of international carbon markets, which is the last part of the guidelines for the Paris Climate Agreement reached  in 2015. And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his disappointment regarding the results of the international climate summit, describing it as a missed opportunity to address the global warming crisis, and this failure was expected after the US president's decision to withdraw from the international climate agreement.

The year 2019 witnessed the investigations aimed at impeaching US President Donald Trump, as the US House of Representatives decided to refer him to trial before the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstructing the work of Congress, to be the third president in the history of the United States facing an official measure aimed at impeaching him. Previous impeachments included  Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon; the latter resigned without waiting for the end of the procedure.

There is a difficult situation in which the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself after he was accused of corruption, to become the first prime minister in the history of Israel accused of corruption during his rule.

More recently, what is happening in the Middle East after the unprecedented American raid that led to the killing of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, will be, in my view point, good for the American president and Israeli PM, but it will have a great and dangerous impact on the Middle East in the short and medium term.