Geopolitical Events 1945-Present

In geopolitics, If you cross check events, regions, dates you find similarities and trends. Somewhere, somehow things of today had occured in similar ways in the past, that said solutions can be obtained from the past of course adapted for the current lifetime.

2023:

Ukraine invasion

Gaza war

2014:

• January 4: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captures Fallujah in Iraq, the first significant city the militant group is able to maintain control over.
• January 14: After having been expelled from the city by Syrian rebels early in the month, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seizes total control of Raqqa, the largest city under their control.

2013:

• January 8: The General National Congress changes the provisional name of Libya to the State of Libya, pending the adoption of a new constitution.
• July 1: Croatia joins the European Union.
• October 24: The Republic of Cape Verde changes its official English name to the Republic of Cabo Verde.
• November 11: The ICJ clarifies its 1962 ruling on the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand, awarding the promontory of Preah Vihear to Cambodia and Phu Ma-khuea hill to Thailand.
• November 23: China declares an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, around half of which overlaps with the previously declared airspace of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

2012:

• Uzbekistan leaves the Collective Security Treaty Organisation for a second time after rejoining the alliance in 2006.
• January 1: The Republic of Hungary changes its name to Hungary.
• January 25: The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) conquers Aguelhok, the first town to fall under the control of the militant separatist group in northern Mali.
• April 6: The State of Azawad declares independence from Mali, after the MNLA conquers northern Mali's largest cities between March 30 and April 2. Timbuktu is proclaimed the capital; Gao serves as the provisional capital.
• May 26: Georgia moves its legislative capital from Tbilisi to Kutaisi. Tbilisi remains the administrative capital.
• June 15: A standoff beginning April 8 over Scarborough Shoal ends with an agreement between China and the Philippines to both withdraw their forces: only the Philippines actually does so, leaving China in effective possession.
• July 12: Ansongo, the last town controlled by the State of Azawad, is conquered by Ansar Dine, a militant group aiming to make Mali an Islamist state which had already conquered Azawad's largest cities on June 27–28.
• August 20: The Somali Republic changes its name to the Federal Republic of Somalia.
• December 14: China declares an exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea which extends hundreds of kilometres into Japan's maritime claims.
• November 19: The ICJ resolves the territorial dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia, upholding Colombia's sovereignty over disputed islands while ceding Nicaragua much of the surrounding maritime territory.
• November 29: The United Nations General Assembly votes to upgrade the status of the State of Palestine from "entity" to "non-member observer state," effectively granting it recognition.

2011:

• January 11: China is ceded 1322 km2 of land by Tajikistan after the final ratification of boundary treaties between the two countries.
• February 2: The Republic of the Fiji Islands changes its name back to the Republic of Fiji.
• March 15: Unrest in Syria leads to the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
• March 31: Implementing the decision of a March 2009 referendum, France incorporates the Departmental collectivity of Mayotte as the Overseas department and region of Mayotte.
• July 9: Following a referendum in January, Southern Sudan gains independence from Sudan as the Republic of South Sudan. Juba remains the capital.
• September 1: Amidst a civil war, Muammar Gaddafi moves the capital of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from Tripoli to Sirte, days after the rebel forces of the National Transitional Council, supported by NATO, conquered Tripoli.
• September 16: Libya officially supersedes the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, as the United Nations General Assembly seats the representatives of the National Transitional Council and recognizes the country's name change.
• October 20: The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is overthrown following its defeat in the Battle of Sirte. The government of Libya declares the end of the civil war three days later.
• December 18: The United States ends its occupation of Iraq.
• December 31: Samoa and Tokelau switch to the western side of the International Date Line, skipping December 30 entirely.

2010:

• April 21: Ukraine extends Russia's lease on naval facilities in Sevastopol for an additional twenty-five years beyond the 2017 expiration, until 2042, with further renewal options thereafter.
• October 10: The Kingdom of the Netherlands dissolves the Netherlands Antilles. New polities include:The constituent country of Curaçao. Willemstad remains the capital.The constituent country of Sint Maarten. Philipsburg remains the capital.Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius become special municipalities of the Netherlands.
• October 21: The Union of Myanmar changes its name to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

2009:

• 24 November: The United States cedes six uninhabited islands totalling 0.44 km² in the Rio Grande river to Mexico, and Mexico cedes three uninhabited islands and two bancos totalling 0.27 km², after pending for 20 years.
• 14 July: China is ceded 9 km² of land by Kyrgyzstan as part of a treaty delimiting the borders between the two countries.
• 1 April: Albania and Croatia join NATO in the Sixth Enlargement.
• 7 February: The Republic of Bolivia changes its name to the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

2008:

• 27 August: Russia recognises the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Most countries continue to recognise these territories as part of Georgia.
• 14 August: Nigeria completes the transfer of Bakassi to Cameroon, fulfilling the terms of a 2002 ICJ ruling on the disputed territory.
• 11-12 August: The separatist forces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, supported by Russia, expel the forces of Georgia from their respective regions, which Georgia continues to claim in its entirety.
• 4 August: The Kingdom of Nepal changes its name to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
• 17 February: The Republic of Kosovo declares independence from Serbia, which continues to claim it as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija; other countries divide on recognising its declaration.

2007:

• 21 February: France detaches the collectivities of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin from Guadeloupe, and integrates the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean into the French Southern and Antarctic Lands as its fifth district.
• 15 January: The Kingdom of Nepal changes its name to the State of Nepal.
• 1 January: Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union.

2006:

• 3-5 June: The Republic of Montenegro secedes from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, becoming an independent nation. The Republic of Serbia supersedes the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

2005:

• 6 November: Myanmar moves its capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw.
• 12 September: Israel completely withdraws its forces from the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian Civil War leads to Gaza effectively withdrawing from the Palestinian Authority and becoming a separate entity under Hamas by June 2007.

2004:

• 7 December: The transitional period set out in the Bonn Agreement ends, and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is established.
• 1 September: The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, administering Antarctica and all lands and waters south of the 60th parallel south, establishes its headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1 May: Ten more states join the European Union.
• 29 March: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO in the Fifth Enlargement.
• 27 February: France elevates the status of French Polynesia to that of an Overseas Country.
• 9 January: Kazakhstan agrees to a revision of the terms of Russia's lease of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, extending it to 2050 with no established options on further extensions.

2003:

• 26 May: The Rwandese Republic changes its name to the Republic of Rwanda.
• 28 March: France reorganises several of its overseas territories.
• 15 April: US-led coalition forces conquer Tikrit, the last stronghold of Ba'athist Iraq.
• 4 February: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changes its name to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

2002:

• 20 May: The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste gains independence with the promulgation of a constitution and the conclusion of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor.
• 10 March: The Comoros reabsorbs the independent State of Anjouan and the Democratic Republic of Mohéli.
• 14 February: The State of Bahrain changes its name to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

2001:

• 21 March: Bahrain and Qatar sign a treaty resolving their territorial dispute.
• 16 March: The ICJ resolves the territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar.
• 11 September: Four coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda are organised against the United States, leading to the war on terror and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.

2000:

• 5 September: Taloqan, the de facto capital of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, falls to the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The capital moves to Fayzabad.
• 17 August: Colombia returns its capital city's name from Santa Fe de Bogotá back to Bogotá, Distrito Capital.
• 12 June: Saudi Arabia and Yemen sign a treaty resolving their border dispute.
• 24 May: Israel completely withdraws from its occupation zone in southern Lebanon, where it is replaced by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping forces.
• 20 March: Six weeks after the fall of Grozny, the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is overthrown as a state following its defeat in the Battle of Komsomolskoye; as an insurgency, it continues to resist Russian rule in Chechnya for years.

1999:

• 20 December: The United Nations transfers sovereignty over Macau to the People's Republic of China, ending 442 years of Portuguese rule.
• 9 June: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign the Kumanovo Treaty, ending the Kosovo War. Under the terms of the agreement, Yugoslavia agrees to withdraw its forces from Kosovo, and NATO agrees to end its bombing campaign. The United Nations takes over administration of the region.
• 12 March: The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland join NATO in the Fourth Enlargement.

1998:

• 31 December: The United States and Spain return sovereignty over the Panama Canal to Panama, ending the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
• 10 December: The Accords of Paris are signed, officially ending the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Vietnam withdraws its troops from Cambodia.
• 23 October: The Wye River Memorandum is signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, establishing a timetable for the implementation of the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• 15 June: The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland, ending the Troubles.

1997:

• 1 July: The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, ending 156 years of British rule.
• 30 December: The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over the New Territories to the People's Republic of China, ending 99 years of British rule.

1996:

• 26 December: The Taliban capture Kabul, establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

1995:

• 14 December: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris, officially ending the Bosnian War.
• 28 November: The United States and Vietnam establish formal diplomatic relations, ending 20 years of post-war isolation.
• 4 July: The United States and Vietnam establish "normal trade relations", ending the United States' economic embargo on Vietnam.

1994:

• 26 December: Russia officially ends its military presence in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) following their independence from the Soviet Union.
• 13 October: The United States and North Korea sign the Agreed Framework, in which North Korea commits to freezing its illicit plutonium weapons program in exchange for aid.
• 26 February: The United Kingdom returns sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius.

1993:

• 1 January: Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolves into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
• 3 October: The Russian constitutional crisis culminates with Russian military and security forces clearing the White House of Russia of anti-Boris Yeltsin protesters, solidifying Yeltsin's power.

1992:

• 25 December: The Soviet Union is officially dissolved, ending the Cold War. Fifteen post-Soviet states are recognized as independent countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
• 8 April: The United Nations establishes the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to assist in the restoration of Cambodian sovereignty, ending the Vietnamese occupation.

1991:

• 25 June: Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia, leading to the Croatian War of Independence and the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
• 17 January: The Gulf War begins with a massive U.S.-led air offensive against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

1990:

• 3 October: Germany is officially reunified, nearly one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• 22 May: The Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) are unified as the Republic of Yemen.

1989:

• The Cold War begins to thaw as the Eastern Bloc countries of East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia experience revolutions, leading to significant political changes.
• The Berlin Wall falls on November 9, initiating the process of German reunification.

1980s:

• The Iran-Iraq War takes place from 1980 to 1988, significantly altering the political landscape of the Middle East.
• The Soviet-Afghan War continues through the 1980s, contributing to the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union.

1970s:

• The Vietnam War ends in 1975 with the fall of Saigon, leading to the unification of Vietnam under Communist rule.
• The Iranian Revolution occurs in 1979, transforming Iran from a monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini.

1960s:

• The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs in 1962, marking a significant Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• Decolonisation in Africa accelerates, with many countries gaining independence from European colonial powers.

1950s:

• The Korean War takes place from 1950 to 1953, solidifying the division of Korea into North and South.
• The Suez Crisis occurs in 1956, highlighting the declining role of European powers in the Middle East and the increasing influence of the United States and the Soviet Union.

1945:

• World War II ends in 1945, leading to significant geopolitical changes, including the establishment of the United Nations and the beginning of the Cold War.