Eight Decades

Recently, I celebrated my 68th birthday. That makes eight decades crossing two millennia in a single lifetime. What a time it has been.

The fifties were rock and roll, the Cold War, television, Fidel Castro, nuclear missiles, baby boomers, and mass conformity.

The sixties saw the British music invasion, the pill and the sexual revolution, Kennedy and his assassination, the Cuban Missile crisis, EXPO 67, the Six Day War, race riots in the U.S., the global events of 1968, the Vietnam War, the counterculture, McLuhan, and the first man on the moon.

The seventies brought Nixon and Watergate, Nixon and China, murder at the Munich Olympics, the Yom Kippur War, skyjackings and the birth of global terrorism, the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis, the Canadian Caper, and civil war in Nicaragua. It also saw Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic trip to Jerusalem and the subsequent Camp David Peace Agreement. 

In the eighties we went from the “we” generation to the “me” generation, inspired by commercialism. We also came together with We Are The World, the birth of CNN and 24/7 news coverage (soon emulated by other global cable news networks), the assassination of Anwar Sadat, SOLIDARNOCZ, Pope John Paul II, the death of Mao, the USSR in Afghanistan, AIDS, the Iran-Iraq war, and civil wars in Lebanon and Central America. 

In the nineties, we saw the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Empire, the birth of the World Wide Web, a re-united Germany, the opening of China, the rise of al-Qaeda, war in the Balkans, the massacre in Rwanda, the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, peace between Jordan and Israel, the challenge of climate change, the Clinton impeachment and the expansion of mobile communications. 1999 saw global angst over Y2K.

The new millennium began with the cliffhanger election in the United States and hanging chads, 2001 brought the September 11th attacks, overriding security concerns,  the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Putin era in Russia, the Chavez era in Venezuela, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the election of the first black U.S. President. The decade also saw the Palestinians burn through two opportunities to achieve their dream of national statehood and independence. 

We also began enjoying the benefits of broadband and the launch of the smart phone – holding the world in our hands. The decade saw a massive social revolution with the emergence of social media and the massive impact that it has had on all facets of human existence. The globe became connected as never before.

The teens saw the emergence of the Islamic State, the dawn of the Trump era along with the politics of division, fake news, loss of U.S. global respect and leadership, massive refugee crises, BREXIT, the Arab Spring and vicious wars in Syria and Yemen, the rebirth of populism, an increase in anti-Semitism, political and social polarization in many countries, and a proactive China as a superpower.

2020 has seen COVID-19 and its short term massive economic and social impact as well as longer term implications for our economies and societies.

As a diplomat for 40 of my 68 years, I have had the privilege of seeing history up close. Humanity continues to be divided by fear and intolerance, seeking violent solutions to problems and challenges. 

Although many people around the world do live better than ever before, our toys and weapons are far more sophisticated. Unfortunately, humanity is not.

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Edición: Ana Ordaz