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2000s
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The 2000s is the current decade, spanning from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009. The decade has been dominated by several wide-ranging topics, including international trade and a growing concern over energy supplies, the explosion in telecommunications, concerns with international terrorism and war, an escalation of the social issues of the 1990s, and the debate over global warming.
Economic developments in the 2000s have focused on the explosion of Asia's economic and political potential, and its impact on the world market. India’s economy has become technologically integrated with those of the world’s more developed nations. China has experienced immense economic growth, and has obtained the status of a world power. The growing Chinese economy has been a major factor in the rapidly increasing demand for fossil fuels, which—along with fewer new petroleum finds, greater extraction costs, and political turmoil—forced two other trends: a soar in the price of petroleum products and a subsequent push by governments and businesses to promote the development of "green" technology. A side-effect to the push by some industrial nations to "go green" and utilize biofuels has been a decrease in the supply of food, and thus an increase in the price of food, which in turn is threatening the world's poorer nations with a shortage of food.
Technological advancements have been as revolutionary and diversified as previous decades. In the field of digital electronics, advancements have been considerable. Computers continue to advance rapidly, in western countries the spread of broadband Internet approaches ubiquity, and email has become for many a necessity rather than a luxury. Mobile phones, digital cameras, digital data storage, and digital music became widespread during the 2000s.. The development of social networking websites have also given people the opportunity to easily keep in touch with others from anywhere around the globe. Use of internet commerce has also become widely popular, with travel reservations, stock trading, and retail shopping not only taking place online, but also taking place without an intermediary agent; online commerce has become the era of self-service.
Many major political developments in the 2000s have revolved around the War on Terrorism, which was triggered by the September 11, 2001 attacks and led directly to the war in Afghanistan. The Iraq War, ostensibly part of the United States' War on Terror, has generated extreme controversy around the world. Questions regarding the justification for this war have led to a loss of sympathy for the United States that was generated by the original 9/11 attacks. Tensions in the Middle East have also escalated because of the 2006 Lebanon War. Conflict has also arisen over the nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.
Social issues which became more pronounced included issues pertaining to gay rights, in particular the issue of homosexual unions. Same-sex marriage was legalized by some major developed nations, and in others, varying degrees of civil recognition were granted to gay relationships. However, such unions continued to meet resistance in many countries and in most U.S. states. Other social issues of concern during the 2000s have been gender equality, human rights, and—in the United States—health care.
Global warming, while originally seen as an environmental matter, has evolved into a major economic and political issue. While scientists evaluate the origins and severity and climate change, politicians and economists debate the cost and efficacy of public policies to address it.
Names of the decadeIn contrast to the decades from 1920 to 1999, which are called "the Twenties", "the Sixties", and the like, the 2000s have no universally-accepted name. Some refer to the decade as the "twenty hundreds" while others may refer to it as the "two thousands". In written form this could appear as "the '00s" or "the 2000s". But writing "the 2000s" or simply saying "the two-thousands" can cause confusion, since this could refer to the entire 21st century or even the entire millennium.
Determining a name for the decade has been problematic, especially in the United States. In 1999, anticipating the upcoming awkwardness, a US group calling itself "Project Naughtie" ran a viral campaign in an attempt to popularize "the Naughties" as the decade's name. The term involves a clear play on words, stemming both from the idea that "naught" means "nothing" or "zero" as well as the fact that "naughties" sounds both like "nineties" and "naughty". A limited number of the media have made some use of the term as well, including the BBC (although adopting a more traditional spelling based upon "nought"). Both spellings have gained some currency among the legitimate press in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, but there still remains nothing remotely close to a consensus on what term to use. Even the decades' trend tracking VH-1 has opted to not take any sides, calling their new show on the decade, "I Love the New Millennium"
Other proposed names include:
- aughts, aughties, and double-aughts, from 'aught', which, like "naught" means "zero" (aughts was one of the more popular terms in the early 20th century)
- nils and nillies, from "nil", meaning "nothing"
- 2Ks, from the Greek term khilioi, meaning "thousand"
- ozies, and the Twenty-Os, from the practice of calling the number zero 'O'
- zeroes, double zeroes, oh-zeroes, ohs, double ohs, oh-ohs, and twenty ohs.
The United Nations General Assembly has declared the decade of 2000–2009 the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World."
See also
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