This year seems to have passed like a flash of lightening for me, and now that I'm left sitting here with some much needed time off I have the time to look back at what 2011 had to offer. When looking back at happenings both in my personal life and in the world around me I must say I'm rather taken aback at just how much has actually happened, and in a year that was promised to have ended in May. Oh, and then October as well. It may be a bit clichéd to provide a 'most important happenings list' coming in to the new year, however I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and provide you with my personal view on the 5 defining moments of 2011.
1. Osama Bin Laden's Death
Years of cat and mouse between the American military and the now former al-Qaeda leader finally came to an end early this year. In an operation taking over a year to plan American soldiers swooped a high walled complex in Abbotttabad to shoot dead Bin Laden and take his body, later to bury it at sea and open up a controversy filled can of worms regarding the manner of his burial. One of the most unlikely things to unfold from the whole incident was the unintentional coverage of the raid by a local on twitter.
2. The English Riots
This has to be one of the most infamous moments of 2011 for the UK, and I unfortunately found myself right in the heart of Birmingham throughout. Starting out in Tottenham in apparent response to a police shooting of Mark Duggan following an attempted arrest, these protests soon became violent and rapidly escalated, prompting many copy-cat acts of crime throughout London and many in cities across England. Crimes included looting, vandalism and a large number of violent acts. For those sitting watching it all unfold it may have seemed as if any basic sense of decency and consideration had been lost for many, however we were all reminded of the many out there ready to rally together and stand up for their local communities with operation cup of tea.
3. Libya
There was a large chunk of this year in which Libya found itself dominating the news. The whole saga began early in the year with an anti-government protest by a group of Libyan citizens, which saw Gaddafi's security forces firing on the crowd, escalating tension and playing a hand in the beginnings of a rebellion. The rest of the world watched intently as the resulting civil war spanned many months and saw large scale clashes between pro-Gaddafi and rebel forces. However, with the hangover from both Afganistan and Iraq still in mind the only outside actions taken were a seizing of Gaddafi's assets, a restriction of movements on his inner circle and an imposed no-fly zone over the country by the U.N., along with a promise to use "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians. The war found its resolution late in October when Gaddafi was found, captured and killed, and the news being met with widespread images of celebration from the Libyan people.
4. The death of Kim Jong-Il
The end of the year saw the death of another one of the worlds most infamous leaders. Kim Jong-Il has been the leader of North Korea since the death of his father in 1994, and has managed to continue the communist state built by Kim Il-sung. Hunger and poverty has been rife under the power of the former leader, with his priorities seeming to lie in other places, such as the countries nuclear and chemical weapon capabilities. The prominent question now that Kim Jong-Il has passed away and his son Kim Jong-un has taken over as 'supreme leader' is what is yet to come politically for North Korea, and how does this new leadership affect the relationship with the south of the peninsula?
5. Japanese Tsunami and Earthquake
As natural disasters go this was one of the most serious seen in recent years, the initial earthquake measuring in at 9 on the richter scale and causing a devastating tsunami which travelled no less than 10km inland. The results of these events were massive, seeing tens of thousands confirmed dead, and hundreds of thousands left homeless. Arguably the most distressing thing to have come from this distaster however is the resulting damage caused to the Fukushima nuclear plant, putting the facility in to a meltdown given a severity rating of 7 - a rating only previously reached by Chernobyl. This meltdown managed to irradiate much needed food and water supplies for the country, along with contaminating many of the plants workers and emergency service teams that fought to keep the radiation levels at a minimum. Have a look at National Geographics "20 unforgettable pictures" of the whole disaster.
What would you regard as the most defining moments of 2011?
The Bass Player
