What events changed the world in 2006?

Gideon Rachman at the Financial Times wrote this week about the top five events that changed the world in 2006. His picks? DIA HAMID/AFP Russia blocks gas supplies to Ukraine in January. The bombing of the golden-domed mosque in Samarra in February. An Inconvenient Truth hits U.S. theaters in May. The war in Lebanon breaks ...

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605332_askary_shrine5.jpg

Gideon Rachman at the Financial Times wrote this week about the top five events that changed the world in 2006. His picks?

Gideon Rachman at the Financial Times wrote this week about the top five events that changed the world in 2006. His picks?



DIA HAMID/AFP
  • Russia blocks gas supplies to Ukraine in January.
  • The bombing of the golden-domed mosque in Samarra in February.
  • An Inconvenient Truth hits U.S. theaters in May.
  • The war in Lebanon breaks out in July.
  • U.S. midterms are held in November.

Rachman admits in the column that he’s completely left off Asia. He cites the Africa-China conference, the spike in Chinese R&D spending, and the records hit by the Indian stock market as possibles, but not top five material.

So, what other events of 2006 should have made the list and didn’t? I think there are at least a few strong contenders: The North Korean nuclear test in October and Hamas winning the Palestinian elections in January. What do you think? Email us and we’ll post readers’ suggestions next week.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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