The United States, a beacon of equality, freedom and democracy elected a populist President with no legal or political background. In this decade, television star and real estate magnate, Donald Trump, was elected as President and was also impeached. During this time in office, there have been confirmed Russian government interference in his presidential election and even more dubious interactions between President Trump, his affiliates and foreign governments.

On June 23, 2016 the world was stunned when a majority of the United Kingdom’s voters (51.9% to be exact) chose to leave the European Union during a referendum brought on by Prime Minister David Cameron. Brexit is the nickname given to the UK’s exit from the EU which has caused a change in Prime Minister, uproar from citizens and a mighty great deal of planning and confusion across Europe.

Beginning in December 2010, anti-government protests rocked a number of Arabian states and Islamic nations. In areas such as Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Yemen, these protests turned into violent, tumultuous revolutions leading to much unrest and turmoil. The pro-democratic uprising in multiple states in the region continues on today with serious conflict, human rights violations and intervention from infamous terrorist organisation ISIS garnering international attention.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to its destination, Beijing Capital International Airport. The plane disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

In 2017, the New York Times released a shocking and impactful story that revealed the truth behind big time Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's predatory behaviour towards numerous actresses in the industry. Actress Rose McGowen spoke up publicly about her own story of assault by Harvey Weinstein. Her testimony led to the unraveling of so many other stories spanning back years. Truths of harassment and assault came out of the darkness and this thus ushered in the powerful #MeToo movement.

In 2012, the Obama administration successfully tracked down and assassinated international terrorist group leader, Osama Bin Laden.

Edward Snowden leaked NSA documents and disclosed about a program called PRISM, which enabled the NSA to extract the details of millions of American citizens without their knowledge. This included: photo, video, audio, e-mails, documents and other user data. Snowden also revealed that the US Government was listening in on American’s phone calls and viewing their phone records. Not only did Snowden reveal that the NSA was spying on American citizens but also on foreign government officials.

Along the same vein is the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica case. Here, the public was alerted that the company Cambridge Analytica had designed a program, an app in the form of a quiz or survey. The millions of FB users who had taken the quiz had their information collected. However, the data taken by CA was not only that of the FB user who took the quiz but also of all their friends or followers. This information was then collected and used for political strategy and campaigns – specifically for the election campaign of Donald Trump. This opened the public’s eyes to the concept of data privacy and the dangers of technology. People realised how much of their information was and is currently out there and available for companies to use. This began the investigation into how Facebook has been using its user’s data and has led to multiple and ongoing court cases for the social media giant.

The alarming effects of global warming and environmental degradation became even more strikingly evident as an increasing amount of disasters occurred. One of the most notable and eye-opening was when Cape Town, South Africa ran out of potable water in April 2018.

HBO’s Game of Thrones begun in 2011 and changed the television game forever. They artfully produced top-notch, blockbuster movie quality content that pushed all other television production companies and units to up their game. TV was no longer seen as something simply shot in a small studio set but began being treated as cinematic masterpieces. In this decade, streaming platforms were born and have changed the way that content is consumed. The era of cable is fading and the rise of internet on-demand streaming is here... and here to stay with Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Apple+ and Disney+.

During this era, the sharing economy developed and took on a life of its own. With companies like Uber, Airbnb and Postmates, consumers around the world began to rely on peers and strangers, in order to get through the day. This collaborative consumption community has disrupted the market and created a totally new commercial landscape. Our parents used to tell us to never get into the car with strangers or to stay in a stranger’s home and now we openly jump into their cars and reserve to sleep in their beds! How times have changed!

With the invention of cryptocurrency by Satoshi Nakamoto, the rise of Bitcoin caught the world by storm. People were confused, afraid, curious and very intrigued by this decentralised and brand new form of currency. How was value being assigned? What is a coin? What do you mean you have to mine for a coin? There is so much to understand and a lot that traditional fiat currency and banks are averse to. This exciting new frontier holds many interested opportunities for international transactions and has made waves for remittance payment systems in the Philippines. There is more to learn and uncover and a future filled with possibilities!