The 2000’s
Welcome to the 21st century!
By: Sean Mackey, Tommy O’connor, and
Becca DeGregorio
Mods: 7-8
America’s General Standing…

Dawn of the 21st century

U.S. is the strongest, wealthiest, and
most powerful nation

Possessed the world’s most productive
economy, dominated manufacturing, lead
in invention, and spread its culture worldwide
Background: Ossama Bin Laden:

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1957

Bin Laden lived under a strict, Islamic roof, as established
by his stern father.

When his family split, Bin Laden went to live with his
mother in Jedda and attended Al Thagher Model School.

By his teenage years, he became an Islamic activist.
(preached throughout Jedda)
Al Qaeda:

The US stepped in and aided the Afghans and Bin Laden in
expelling the Soviets from Afghanistan (1979); however,
afterwards, there was residual American presence in Saudi
Arabia.

In response, Bin Laden created the terroristic group Al
Qaeda (1998) that sought to combat The US’s presence in
the Islamic world.

Al Qaeda’s Goals: rid Islamic world of US presence
(superpower), destroy Israel and its government (restore
Palestine), create a single Islamic nation
September 11th, 2001: “modern-day Pearl Harbor”

Al-Qaeda members hijacked the airlines of several
commercial airlines to use as missiles to attack key political
and economic centers of the US.
◦ Struck World Trade Center in NYC, The Pentagon in Arlington County
(Virginia), and Southeast of Pittsburgh.

Killed a total of 2,819 people: civilians, airline passengers,
workers, police officers, firefighters, etc.

The attacks surprised and shook the nation.
US Reaction:

Immediately, Congress agreed to spend around $40 billion
toward recovery.

George W. Bush organized an international union against Al
Qaeda and the Taliban Government.

October 7th 2001:US’s retaliation: The US coalition
attacked key areas of Afghanistan(later on, Britain sends in
troops to help the US). This attack marked the start of the
War On Terrorism.
USS Cole Incident:

October 12th, 2000

The USS Cole (US liner) was bombed off of the coast of Yemen

17 US soldiers were killed and 39 were injured

Al-Qaeda was blamed for the incident
Iraq and Saddam Hussein:

US invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003

WHY: Saddam Hussein (Iraqi president) had been supplying weapons of mass
destruction to Al-Qaeda (supported terrorism)

Also, The US wanted to liberate the Iraqi people from Hussein’s tyranic,
unforgiving, and bloodthirsty rule (additional hatred toward Israel).

May 1st ended the combat/invasion period, and began the military occupation
period.

The combined forces of the US, the UK, Australia, and Poland managed to
defeat Hussein’s gov’t (Ba’ath party) in under a month and sent the
administration into hiding.

On December 13th, 2003, the US coalition captured Saddam Hussein, who was
then executed in 2006 for the murder of 148 Shi’ites (1982).
Target: Identify the War On Terror and
evaluate its effects on international policy.

The War On Terror: the ongoing campaign of the US and its
allies to confront and defeat international terrorism.
Target: summarize the impact of
and responses to natural
disasters: Southeast Asian
Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and
the Haitian Earthquake:
Southeast Asian Tsunami (2004):

Occurred as a result of an earthquake in the Indian ocean (9.3 magnitude)
The quake was so strong that it spurred vibrations and other earthquakes all around
the world.

It hit the coasts of: Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Maldives,
Malaysia, Bangladesh, but MOSTLY Indonesia

Hit the coast of Indonesia on December 26th, 2004

Over 200,000 people were killed, 10’s of 100’s of people were missing, and millions
were left homeless.

The tsunami also shattered schools and community buildings, and caused food and
clean water to be scarce.

The world community immediately gave about $500 million to Indonesia and the
other countries affected.

A large sum of this money was donated by the US.

Haitian Earthquake (2010):

Hit Haiti on January 12th, 2010 (7.0 magnitude) and completely destroyed Port-au-Prince

Killed approximately 316,000 people but affected an estimated 3,000,000 people due to
property damage

Known as “The Largest Urban Disaster in Modern History”

Served to be a worst-case-scenario for the already struggling third world country

The US and UN performed numerous humanitarian efforts: helped to aid in the long-term
areas of infrastructure, energy, economic security, food security, healthcare, education, and
governance.
Hurricane Katrina (2005):

Category 4 hurricane that was formed in Gulf of Mexico and hit Louisiana on August
29th, 2005 (by August 31st, 80% of New Orleans was flooded)

It is estimated that the storm killed about 1,883 people; however, it Louisiana and
Mississippi’s economy MUCH more than it hurt it’s people.

Estimated damage cost: over $100 billion

The oil industry was disrupted and production reduced by 95%.

Gas prices skyrocketed reaching a record high.

Criticisms toward Bush:
Poor management of the crisis and lack of an emergency crisis plan for citizens
Slow response to the damage
His complete absence from New Orleans until many months later



2008 Presidential Election

Barack Obama becomes the first African American and bi-racial president

Obama and Biden become the first president/vice president in which
neither candidate is Protestant

Democrats reclaim the presidency and increase their majority in Congress
Obama’s Domestic Policy

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
 Economic stimulus package signed into a law by Obama on February 17, 2009 in
response the recession of the 2000s
 Main objective was to save and create jobs
 Secondary objectives were to provide relief for people impacted the most by the
recession and to invest money in infrastructure, education, health, and green
energy
 Created 1.8 million jobs so far, and is predicted to create up to 2.5 million in the
near future
 Considered successful by most Americans
Obama’s Domestic Policy

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
◦ Signed into law by Obama on March 23, 2010
◦ Requires people not covered by insurance plans to maintain minimal essential
health insurance coverage
◦ Ensures that all Americans have access to affordable healthcare
◦ Initially supported by Americans in 2008, but became opposed after being
changed in 2009 and 2010 due to the amount of money one needed to spend on
healthcare because of the act and due to too much government involvement in
healthcare
World Population Growth and the
Energy Crisis

Rate of world growth increased rapidly due to advances in health and technology

World population grew from 6.1 billion to 6.8 billion from 2000 to 2010

As the population increased, use of and need for energy also increased, creating a
high demand for energy, especially oil

As demand for oil increased, supply decreased and the prices skyrocketed, creating
a worldwide energy crisis
World Population Growth and the
Energy Crisis
Other Effects of World Population
Growth

Destruction of 80% of the world’s rainforests

Extinction of thousands of species of plants and animals

Increased pollution

Global warming

Increased epidemics

Elevated crime rate and warfare

Shortages of resources
◦ Food, water, and energy
MUSIC:

People began to develop individual “tastes”

Some “tastes”: hip-hop & rap, hip-hop & pop, electronic & alternative, alternative &
rock, country & folk, etc.

Birth of mixes, remixes, and dubstep (originated in England in 90’s but didn’t
become popular in the US until around 2010)

Lip-syncing became increasingly popular with artists

Dominate hits were of the pop genre

Rise of female popstars: Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus, Kelly
Clarkson, etc.

(during the later years of the decade) With the rise of the “hipster” movement and
the deaths of great artists from earlier decades (ex: Michael Jackson), people
actually turned back to older and more vintage music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0p3jn7ODuc
FASHION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnzOd43pbCg
Sports
Theater, Film, Television & Radio
Works Cited:
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/internati
onal/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html>
<http://haiti.usaid.gov/issues/earthquake.php
>
<http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/ba
ckground-2004-tsunami-southeast-asia>
<http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41643
>
<http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/>