The decade in review: Europe, and the reawakening of the Russian bear
Let's say you had nodded off for a long, if chilly, nap on the banks of the Moscow River 10 years ago. How different a world would you wake up to now?
Within the Kremlin walls, not very different at all, notes correspondent Mark Phillips: Vladimir Putin was re-elected twice in this past decade, and will be in office until 2024, at least. But the world outside those walls is a different place because of him.
It's certainly different in the Crimea, the Ukrainian province he invaded and annexed in 2014.
- Ukraine Crisis: Russia sends more troops, takes more Crimea border posts (3/9/14)
- Legal or not, Russia supporters in Crimea look forward to referendum ("CBS Evening News," 3/10/14)
- Ukraine crisis: Russia reserves right to "take people under its protection" (3/14/14)
- Russia President Vladimir Putin signs treaty to annex Crimea after residents vote to leave Ukraine (3/18/14)
- "Significant escalation": Russian tanks enter Ukraine (8/28/14)
- Trump says he may let Russia keep Crimea (7/31/16)
- Trump open to lifting Russia sanctions (8/20/18)
And it's tragic for the 298 people who died on the Malaysia Airlines plane shot down over Ukraine by a Russian missile.
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17: Plane with 298 on board shot down in Ukraine (7/14/14)
- Vladimir Putin criticized as "thug" after shootdown of civilian airliner ("Face the Nation," 7/20/14)
- Flight 17 downed due to "the detonation of a warhead" 10/13/15)
- Missile that downed Flight MH17 came from Russian military unit, investigators say (5/24/18)
- MH17 crash: 3 Russians, 1 Ukrainian face murder charges for downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (6/19/19)
And Putin's influence is felt well beyond Eastern Europe, particularly in the last U.S. presidential election, where he's accused of sanctioning an internet troll campaign against Hillary Clinton – accused by just about everybody but the U.S. president.
- Russian intelligence officers indicted in DNC hacking (7/13/18)
- Russia targeted 2016 state elections with "unprecedented level of activity," Senate Intel report says (7/25/19)
- How Russian intelligence officers interfered in the 2016 election ("60 Minutes," 11/24/19)
- Trump sides with Putin over U.S. intelligence during remarkable press conference in Helsinki ("CBS Evening News," 7/16/18)
"They said they think it's Russia," Mr. Trump said in Helsinki in July 2018. "I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
The American president's relationship with the Russian leader has seemed better than with old allies, says Pulitzer Prize-winning writer on European affairs, Anne Applebaum.
"Putin set out on a strategy that seems on the face of it incredible," said Applebaum. "He decided that what he wanted to do was break up the European Union, break up NATO, and get the United States to leave Europe. It's pretty clear that the U.S. president admires Putin in a way that he does not admire American allies."
If there was one picture that summed up the misery of the decade, it was this one: The body of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Kurdish-Syrian refugee, washed up on a Mediterranean beach.
- The little Syrian boy who's become the face of Europe's migrant crisis ("CBS Evening News," 9/3/15)
Hundreds of thousands fled endless wars in the Middle East and poverty in Africa. And when they made their way through Europe, they triggered an anti-immigrant backlash, and the rise of populist leaders, including Viktor Orban in Hungary and Matteo Salvini in Italy.
Protection of borders was part of what drove the Brexit vote in Britain that is taking the U.K. out of the European Union.
- EU will end without swift migrant solution, official says (10/25/15)
- After Brexit, cheers, jeers and fears in Britain and EU (6/24/16)
- Worrying rise in racist abuse linked to Brexit? (6/29/16)
And if it was a hot decade in politics, real temperatures rose as well. The consequences of global warming – heatwaves, droughts, flooding caused by melting in the polar regions – will occur more often.
"There are several spots around here, around Antarctica, that are believed to be in this irreversible situation," said scientist Ken Taylor.
- Climate Diaries: Tracking "irreversible" ice flows in Antarctica ("CBS Evening News," 2/13/17)
- Scientists warn of "inevitable sea level rise" as Antarctica ice melts (3/18/19)
- "The world from our childhood is no longer here": Report details drastic changes as Arctic warms (12/10/19)
- Trump administration starts formally pulling out of the Paris climate deal (11/4/19)
All this, no matter what the pleas of a schoolgirl who has become the unlikely face of a new international movement.
"My name is Greta Thunberg, I am 16 years old, I come from Sweden, and I want you to panic."
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg tells U.N. climate summit: "You have stolen my dreams" (9/24/19)
- 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg says meeting with Trump would be a "waste" ("CBS This Morning," 8/13/19)
- Millions hit the streets for global climate change strike (9/20/19)
- Greta Thunberg is Time's 2019 Person of the Year (12/11/19)
The last decade has had its diversions: An American actress, Megan Markle, married into the British royal family, and discovered there is no preparation for the kind of scrutiny that involves.
- Royal Romance: The Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (5/20/18)
- Gallery: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding
- Meghan Markle: Adopting a stiff upper lip is "probably really damaging" ("CBS This Morning," 10/21/19)
But that napper by the Moscow River might be relieved to see that the Queen is still on the throne. In a world of change, some things stay the same.
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano.
See also:
- The decade in review: The top stories year-to-year
- The decade in review: News from Washington
- The decade in review: News from Asia
- The decade in review: Top movies and music
