These are some of the notable events relating to politics in 2019.
Note: This section is provided for issue-based overviews in narrative format, if desired.
In December 2019, the World Meteorological Organization released its annual climate report revealing that climate impacts are worsening. [244] They found the global sea temperatures are rising as well as land temperatures worldwide. 2019 is the last year in a decade that is the warmest on record. [245]
Global carbon emissions hit a record high in 2019, even though the rate of increase slowed somewhat, according to a report from Global Carbon Project. [246]
In the first half of 2019, global debt levels reached a record high of $250 trillion, led by the US and China. [247] The IMF warned about corporate debt. [247] The European Central Bank raised concerns as well. [248]
Concerns increased about the European Debt Crisis as both Greece and Italy continued to have high levels of public debt. This caused concerned about stability of the Euro. In December 2019, the EU announced that banking ministers from EU member nations had failed to reach agreement over proposed banking reforms and systemic change. [249] [250] The EU was concerned about high rates of debt in France, Italy and Spain. [251] Italy objected to proposed new debt bailout rules that were proposed to be added to the European Stability Mechanism. [252]
In April 2019, Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill which would have ended US support for the Saudi-led military intervention. [253] With 53 votes instead of the 67 needed, the United States Senate failed to override the veto. [254] The legal arguments and policies of the Obama administration were cited as justification for the veto. [255] The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Mulroy stated that US support was limited to side-by-side coaching to mitigate civilian casualties and if the measure had passed it would do nothing to help the people of Yemen and may only increase civilian deaths. [256] Mulroy supported the United Nation's peace talks and he pushed the international community to come together and chart a comprehensive way ahead for Yemen. [257] [258] [259] Writing in The Nation , Mohamad Bazzi argued that Mulroy's defence of US support as necessary to limit civilian casualties was false, and that "Saudi leaders and their allies have ignored American entreaties to minimize civilian casualties since the war’s early days". [260]
A trade dispute between the US and China caused economic concerns worldwide. In December 2019, various US officials said a trade deal was likely before a proposed round of new tariffs took effect on December 15, 2019. [261] US tariffs had a negative effect on China's economy, which slowed to growth of 6%. [261]
The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement [262] is a signed but not ratified free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Agreement is the result of a 2017–2018 renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by its member states. [263] Negotiations "focused largely on auto exports, steel and aluminum tariffs, and the dairy, egg, and poultry markets." One provision "prevents any party from passing laws that restrict the cross-border flow of data". [264] Compared to NAFTA, USMCA increases environmental and labour regulations, and incentivizes more domestic production of cars and trucks. [265] The agreement also provides updated intellectual property protections, gives the United States more access to Canada's dairy market, imposes a quota for Canadian and Mexican automotive production, and increases the duty free limit for Canadians who buy U.S. goods online from $20 to $150. [266]
WikiProject—Wikiproject Politics
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2019 (MMXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2019th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 19th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 10th and last year of the 2010s decade.
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2024 (MMXXIV) is the current year, and is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 24th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2020s decade.
Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt is a Belgian liberal and European federalist politician. He is a former prime minister of Belgium. He has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium since 2009.
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Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, having previously held the post from 2007 to 2014. From 2014 to 2019 Tusk was President of the European Council, and from 2019 to 2022 he was the president of the European People's Party (EPP). He co-founded the Civic Platform (PO) party in 2001 and has twice been its leader, first from 2003 to 2014 and again since 2021.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is organized around shared values of pluralism, liberal democracy, and representative government. G7 members are major IMF advanced economies.
Sir Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British politician, broadcaster and member of the Conservative Party who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset from 2010 to 2024. He served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from 2019 to 2022, Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency from February to September 2022 and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from September to October 2022. Rees-Mogg previously chaired the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) from 2018 to 2019 and has been associated with socially conservative views.
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He was previously Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 2001 to 2008 and Uxbridge and South Ruislip from 2015 to 2023.
Neo-nationalism, or new nationalism, is an ideology and political movement built on the basic characteristics of classical nationalism. It developed to its final form by applying elements with reactionary character generated as a reaction to the political, economic and socio-cultural changes that came with globalization during the second wave of globalization in the 1980s.
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General elections were planned to take place in Haiti sometime in 2019, though they did not take place. The parliamentary elections had originally been scheduled for 27 October 2019, but were postponed to 26 September 2021. The elections were then postponed again to 7 November 2021. General elections were scheduled to be held in Haiti on 7 November 2021 to elect the president and Parliament, alongside a constitutional referendum. However, in September 2021, they were postponed following the dismissal of the members of the Provisional Electoral Council by acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Prime Minister Henry later stated that he hoped to hold the elections in early 2022. On 8 February 2022, he called for renewed efforts to organize elections. In December 2022, he signed an agreement to hold the elections in 2023, but stated in February 2024 that they will be held once the security situation was under control. Henry later committed to hold the elections by August 2025, but resigned in April 2024 to make way for a transitional presidential council, which is expected to hold the presidential election in early 2026.
Led By Donkeys is a British political campaign group established in December 2018 as an anti-Brexit group, but which has also criticised other actions of the Conservative government. More recently, it has defined itself as an "accountability project" and stated that the Labour government is also "fair game".
Boris Johnson's tenure as prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 24 July 2019 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding Theresa May, and ended on 6 September 2022 upon his resignation. Johnson's premiership was dominated by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis. As prime minister, Johnson also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Minister for the Union and Leader of the Conservative Party.
Boris Johnson has declared his position on many political issues through his public comments. Johnson's political positions have changed throughout his political career. His policies, views and voting record have been the subject of commentary during Johnson's tenure in various positions, including as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022.
The 46th G7 summit of the leaders of the Group of Seven was originally scheduled for June 10–12, 2020, at Camp David, United States. However, the summit was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These are some of the notable events relating to politics in 2020.
2020s in electoral politics refers to events and outcomes from elections all around the world, during the decade of the 2020s.
France will preside over the G7 in 2019