2000s

The War on Terror and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed in 2002. A United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq War led to the end of Saddam Hussein's rule as Iraqi President and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. These acts included the 2004 Madrid train bombings, 7/7 London bombings in 2005, and the Mumbai attacks related to al-Qaeda in 2008. The European Union expanded its sanctions amid Iran's failure to comply with its transparency obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and United Nations resolutions.

The War on Terror generated extreme controversy around the world, with questions regarding the justification for certain U.S. actions leading to a loss of support for the American government, both in and outside the United States. Additional armed conflict occurred in the Middle East, including between Israel and Hezbollah, then with Israel and Hamas. The greatest loss of life due to natural disaster came from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which caused a tsunami that killed around one quarter-million people and displaced well over a million others. Cooperative international rescue missions by many countries from around the world helped in efforts by the most affected nations to rebuild and recover from the devastation. An enormous loss of life and property value came in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly the entire city of New Orleans. The resulting political fallout was severely damaging to the George W. Bush administration because of its perceived failure to act promptly and effectively. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States and became the first African-American U.S. president when he succeeded Bush in 2009.