This article lists significant political and societal historical events of the 2020s, presented as a historical overview in narrative format.

COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered global social and economic disruption, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression. It led to the postponement or cancellation of events, widespread supply shortages exacerbated by panic buying, famines affecting hundreds of millions of people, and decreased emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Educational institutions were partially or fully closed. Misinformation circulated through social media and mass media. There were incidents of xenophobia and discrimination against Chinese people and against those perceived as being Chinese or as being from areas with high infection rates. The pandemic impacted international relations and affected the political systems of multiple countries, causing suspensions of legislative activities, isolation or deaths of multiple politicians and reschedulings of elections due to fears of spreading the virus. The pandemic also triggered broader debates about political issues such as the relative advantages of democracy and autocracy, how states respond to crises, politicization of beliefs about the virus, and the adequacy of existing frameworks of international cooperation.

International conflicts

Nuclear disarmament The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which totally bans nuclear weapons, went into effect on January 22, 2021. The treaty is not supported by NATO or any known nuclear powers. Second Cold War

On May 24, 2020, China Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that relations with the U.S. were on the "brink of a new Cold War" after it was fueled by tensions over the COVID-19 pandemic. In his September 2021 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, US President Joe Biden said that the US is "not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs." Biden further said that the US would cooperate "with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges," despite "intense disagreement in other areas, because we'll all suffer the consequences of our failure."

Indian border skirmishes

Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan

On 28 April, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan forces on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border near Kök-Tash, Leilek, started the clashes, resulting in four deaths and dozens of injuries. The following day clashes resumed, with at least 41 people killed from both sides and roughly 10,000 people evacuated. The same day the foreign ministers of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to a ceasefire at the border. On 30 April, Tajikistan acknowledged the ceasefire in a statement published by its state information service.

Nagorno-Karabakh

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war took place in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between the Republic of Artsakh backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan from September 2020 to November 2020. It is the latest escalation of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. A peace treaty was signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, and Russia, ending hostilities on 10 November 2020. Widespread protests in Armenia followed the treaty while it was celebrated in Azerbaijan. Since the end of the 2020 War, Azerbaijan regularly violated the November ceasefire agreement, provoking cross-border fights with Armenia. The largest escalation occurred in September 2022, when Azerbaijan launched the largest attack on the Republic of Armenia in the history of the conflict between the two countries. Casualties were reported on both sides. Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan initiated a military offensive against the self-declared breakaway state of Artsakh. The offensive took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan, but populated by Armenians. The attacks occurred in the midst of an escalating crisis caused by Azerbaijan blockading the Republic of Artsakh, which has resulted in significant scarcities of essential supplies such as food, medicine, and other goods in the affected region.

Persian Gulf The 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis has led to the attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad during the start of the decade, the subsequent assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the United States days later, the Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Iraq in revenge, as well as the accidental shootdown of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by Iran soon after.

Syrian civil war

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Policy and law

Africa During the early 2020s, various African countries experienced coup d'état's, including Mali in 2020 and 2021, Chad, Guinea, and Sudan in 2021, two in Burkina Faso in January and September in 2022, and in Niger and Gabon in 2023. The region also saw attempted coups in Niger and Sudan in 2021, Guinea–Bissau and The Gambia in 2022, and Sudan and Sierra Leone in 2023. The coups have been similar in nature; most came from dissatisfied militaries who criticised their respective government's handling of Islamic insurgents or protests. The incoming juntas also tend to have worse relations with the West, with many seeking support from either Russia and the Wagner Group or Turkey instead of France, who helped the countries fight against Islamic insurgents through Operation Barkhane. ECOWAS has tried to push back on the phenomenon, although unsuccessfully after Mali after the local coup in 2021, and Guinea on 8 September 2021, shortly after its coup."West African leaders suspend Guinea from Ecowas following coup," September 9, 2021, BBC News, retrieved September 9, 2021 The Alliance of Sahel States is a mutual defense pact created between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso on 16 September 2023. The pact was created amid the 2023 Nigerien crisis, which had begun after the coup in Niger which ECOWAS threatened to militarily intervene against.

Asia As a result of the Arab Spring which began in 2011, which evolved into what some considered the Arab Winter, much of the region was riven by massive instability and conflict, with the Syrian, Libyan and Yemeni Civil Wars continuing into the 2020s. The 2018–2022 Arab protests in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were seen as a continuation of the Arab Spring.

Europe

The European Union reduced in member states from 28 to 27 with the exit of the United Kingdom on January 31, 2020. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a rift between Northern and Southern European member states over spending, with the former demanding more stringent measures to curb overspending, while the latter argued for more financial support in order to overcome the crisis. A key issue of contention was the issuing of so-called corona bonds. After a historic debt-sharing deal for economic stimulus was agreed to by the remaining countries, Hungary and Poland threatened to veto both it and the EU's budget unless a clause demanding the upholding of the rule of law by member states was dropped. A compromise was reached to pass the deal, which involved delaying the implementation of the clause.

Americas

The pink tide showed signs of resurging following a series of violent protests against austerity measures and income inequality scattered throughout Latin America, including the 2019-2020 Chilean protests, 2019–2020 Colombian protests, 2018–19 Haitian protests, and the 2021 Colombian protests. This development was strengthened by the landslide victory of left-wing MAS and its presidential candidate Luis Arce in Bolivia in the 2020 Bolivian general election. The trend continued throughout 2021, when multiple left wing leaders won elections in Latin America. In the 2021 Peruvian general election, Peru elected the indigenous, socialist union leader Pedro Castillo. In November 2021, Honduras elected leftist president Xiomara Castro, and just weeks later, left-winger Gabriel Boric won the 2021 Chilean election.

Argentina In 2021, at the request of Bolivia, Argentine prosecutors filed charges against former president Mauricio Macri, security minister Patricia Bullrich, defense minister Oscar Aguad and former Argentine ambassador to Bolivia Normando Álvarez García for allegedly supporting the removal of Evo Morales from power in November 2019. The Argentine government of that time was also accused of sending ammunition and weaponry to help the government of interim president Jeanine Áñez suppress protests organized by Morales's supporters.

Brazil On March 30, 2021, the commanders of all three branches of the Brazilian Armed Forces – General Edson Leal Pujol (Army), Admiral Ilques Barbosa Junior (Navy), and Brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez (Air Force) – announced their intention to resign from their posts. The collective resignation announcement came less than a day after the dismissal of former Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva and was allegedly a move to signal the Armed Forces' opposition to any military interference in politics.

The 2021 Brazilian protests were popular demonstrations that took place in different regions of Brazil, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests both supporting and opposing government happened. It was also the first time when sectors linked to the two antagonistic sides, such as the left and the right, began to protest against the government over a common goal, holding caravans on January 23 and 24, 2021.

On 8 January 2023, following the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the Brazilian general elections of October 2022, supporters of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, attacked the Supreme Court of Brazil, the National Congress of Brazil and the Planalto Presidential Palace in the Três Poderes Plaza in the capital, Brasília. Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo, interim president of the Federal Senate, confirmed that rioters had breached the Chamber of Deputies' Green Hall and attempted to enter the Planalto Palace. Lula was not in Brasília at the time of the attack, and neither was Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for Orlando, United States, before Lula's inauguration.

Chile The 2019–2022 Chilean protests were a series of massive demonstrations and severe riots originated in Santiago and spread to all regions of Chile. The protests have been considered the "worst civil unrest" having occurred in Chile since the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship due to the scale of damage to public infrastructure, the number of protesters, and the measures taken by the government. On 25 October 2019, over 1.2 million people took to the streets of Santiago to protest against social inequality, demanding President Piñera's resignation, in what was called as "The biggest march of Chile." At least 29 people died,"Death toll rises to 29 in Chile protests , Times of India, 28 December 2019. and nearly 2,500 were injured and 2,840 arrested.

On 15 November 2019, Chile's National Congress signed an agreement to hold a national referendum that would rewrite the constitution if it were to be approved. The referendum was rescheduled from April to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. On 25 October 2020, Chileans voted 78.28 per cent in favor of a new constitution, while 21.72 per cent rejected the change. Voter turnout was 51 per cent. On 16 May 2021, the election of the 155 Chileans who will form the convention which will draft the new constitution was voted. On 21 December 2021, former students leader and constitutional agreement negotiator, 35-year old leftist Gabriel Boric, was elected president of Chile in the 2021 Chilean presidential election with 55,86% of the vote.

Colombia