THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · Age of Globalization

Into a New Millennium

The world in 2000

The world greets the year 2000 with fireworks and relief that the feared 'Y2K' computer bug caused little trouble. Globalisation is the word of the moment: trade, travel and the internet are knitting economies together, though the dot-com stock bubble bursts in March.

The United States is the unchallenged superpower, but its November presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore ends in a disputed Florida recount settled by the Supreme Court. Vladimir Putin becomes president of Russia, pledging to restore order, and wages a second war in Chechnya. China is booming and preparing to join the World Trade Organization, and Europe has launched the euro. Democracy spreads, as Mexico's ruling party loses power after 71 years and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic is ousted, but the Israeli-Palestinian peace process collapses into a new uprising. Wars continue in Congo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, AIDS is ravaging Africa, and the world's population has just passed six billion.

Open the map in 2000

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

Thabo Mbeki has succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa's president, while Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe backs violent seizures of white-owned farms after losing a referendum in February. The Second Congo War (1998-2003) draws in armies from half a dozen nations against Laurent-Desire Kabila's government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (still labelled Zaire on this map). Angola's civil war continues, devastating floods strike Mozambique, and Paul Kagame becomes president of Rwanda. HIV/AIDS is killing millions across the region.

Northern Africa

Ethiopia and Eritrea end a bloody border war with the Algiers Agreement in December. British troops intervene to save Sierra Leone's government from rebels in May. Nigeria has returned to civilian rule under Olusegun Obasanjo, Senegal sees its first peaceful change of party in power with Abdoulaye Wade, and Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika works to end the civil war. Hosni Mubarak rules Egypt, Gaddafi rules Libya, King Mohammed VI has succeeded his father in Morocco, and Sudan's al-Bashir regime fights a long war in the south.

Europe

The European Union of 15 members launched the euro currency in 1999 and in December 2000 agrees the Treaty of Nice to prepare for expansion into Eastern Europe. In October, mass protests overthrow Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, while Kosovo is under UN administration. Vladimir Putin becomes president of Russia, captures Grozny in the Second Chechen War, and faces criticism over the Kursk submarine disaster. Germany's government, under Gerhard Schroder, has moved to Berlin, Tony Blair leads Britain and Jacques Chirac France.

Middle East & South Asia

Peace talks at Camp David collapse in July, and the Second Intifada erupts in September, while Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon in May. Syria's Hafez al-Assad dies and is succeeded by his son Bashar; al-Qaeda bombs the USS Cole in Aden in October; and Saddam Hussein's Iraq remains under sanctions. The Taliban control most of Afghanistan, sheltering Osama bin Laden. India, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, passes a billion people, and General Pervez Musharraf rules Pakistan after a 1999 coup; both are now nuclear-armed.

Northern & Central Asia

Central Asia's authoritarian presidents are entrenched: Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, Karimov in Uzbekistan, Niyazov (who has made himself president for life) in Turkmenistan, Akayev in Kyrgyzstan, and Rahmonov in Tajikistan after the civil war. Kazakhstan's oil boom is under way, with the giant Kashagan field discovered in 2000. Russia's Siberian oil and gas fund Putin's state, and Mongolia elects Nambaryn Enkhbayar as prime minister in July 2000.

East Asia

China, under Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, has regained Hong Kong (1997) and Macau (1999) and is close to joining the World Trade Organization. In Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian's election ends half a century of Kuomintang rule. South Korea's Kim Dae-jung meets North Korea's Kim Jong-il in the first inter-Korean summit in June and wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Japan, under Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro, is mired in economic stagnation.

Southeast Asia

East Timor, after voting for independence from Indonesia in 1999, is under UN administration and will become independent in 2002. Indonesia, democratic since Suharto's fall in 1998, is led by President Abdurrahman Wahid, and the Philippines' President Joseph Estrada is impeached in November and put on trial before the Senate in December. All ten Southeast Asian nations are now in ASEAN; Vietnam is visited by President Clinton in November, and Myanmar remains under military rule.

Northern North America

Canada, under Jean Chretien, re-elected in November 2000, is prosperous and closely tied to the US economy; former prime minister Pierre Trudeau dies in September. The Inuit territory of Nunavut was created in 1999. Greenland has home rule under Denmark, and Alaska is a US state.

Southern North America

Bill Clinton's last year in office is marked by economic prosperity, but the dot-com crash begins in March, and the November election between George W. Bush and Al Gore is decided by the Supreme Court in December. In Mexico, Vicente Fox of the National Action Party wins in July, ending 71 years of PRI rule. Panama took full control of its canal on 31 December 1999, and Fidel Castro still rules Cuba.

Northern South America

Hugo Chavez, re-elected in 2000 under a new constitution, is reshaping Venezuela with his 'Bolivarian Revolution'. Colombia, under Andres Pastrana, launches Plan Colombia with US aid against drug cartels and FARC guerrillas. In Peru, President Alberto Fujimori flees to Japan amid a corruption scandal and resigns by fax in November; Ecuador adopts the US dollar, a plan announced just before a January coup; and Brazil, under Fernando Henrique Cardoso, marks 500 years since the arrival of the Portuguese.

Southern Cone

Argentina, under Fernando de la Rua, is sliding into the recession that will explode into crisis in 2001. Chile elects socialist Ricardo Lagos, and former dictator Augusto Pinochet returns home after 16 months of detention in Britain. Uruguay is led by Jorge Batlle and Paraguay by Luis Gonzalez Macchi, and the Mercosur trade bloc links the region's economies.

Australasia & Oceania

Sydney hosts the 2000 Olympic Games, and Australia, under Prime Minister John Howard, sees hundreds of thousands march for reconciliation with Aboriginal Australians after voters rejected becoming a republic in 1999. New Zealand is led by Helen Clark. Coups strike Fiji, where George Speight holds the government hostage in May, and the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea works toward peace on Bougainville.

Events

  1. Hong Kong returned to China; Asian financial crisis
  2. Euro launched; NATO bombs Yugoslavia over Kosovo; East Timor votes for independence
  3. Y2K passes quietly; dot-com bubble bursts (March)
  4. Vladimir Putin elected president of Russia (March)
  5. First inter-Korean summit (June); Vicente Fox ends PRI rule in Mexico (July)
  6. Sydney Olympics; Second Intifada begins (September)
  7. Milosevic overthrown in Serbia (October)
  8. US presidential election decided by the Supreme Court (December)

Moments of this period

Wars of this period

More chapters

Sources