VII. B. Challenges for the world at the beginning of the 21st century

→ The consumer society in question

Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008

Evolution of the standard of living:
– diffusion of technological innovations, household products (refrigerator, washing machines), means of locomotion (automobiles)
– more and more accessible food, increase of obesity cases (21% of the world population is obese, against 16% of undernourished)
– more and more accessible vacations
– strong inequalities, within and between countries

Transformations in society :
– development of education, massive arrival in universities which must adapt
– growing affirmation of the individual
– cult of the body, transformation of sexuality which is no longer perceived in the same way
– women aspire to play a greater role in society, favored by the comfort of home (between 35% and 50% of women over 15 years old are employed, depending on the country)
– development of communication means (75% of the world population has a cell phone, 30% internet)
– standardization of lifestyles, conveyed by a dominant culture

Economic crises :
– global financial crisis since 2007 (liquidity and solvency crisis, credit shortage)
– subprime crisis, banking crisis of 2008 (Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on September 15, 2008), debt crisis in European countries in particular

→ New concerns: ecology, religion, and wars

Ecological defense :
– ecological demonstrations, against unbridled growth (in 1972 slogan “stop growth!” of the Club of Rome)
– debate on global warming
– kyoto protocol (175 countries) which foresaw a reduction of 5% of greenhouse gases before 2012
– Grenelle de l’environnement in Paris in 2007
– copenhagen summit in 2009 which did not lead to any real decisions

Uprisings, terrorism and wars:Return of the religious:
– vitality with Catholicism with Pope John Paul II
– new charismatic movements (in France, in the United States, in Canada) or fundamentalist movements (around Mgr Lefebvre)
– the interpretation to the letter of religious writings (fundamentalisms) leads to traumas of which the most significant occurs on September 11, 2001 (Ben Laden killed in 2011)
– development of extremist Islam (in Saudi Arabia, Iran, in the Gulf Emirates, in Algeria, in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Libya, in Mali) with sometimes application of the sharia
– emergence of numerous sects

– 3000 deaths during the attacks against the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
– attacks in Madrid in 2004, in London in 2005
– israeli-Palestinian conflict still virulent: Operation Cast Lead in 2009, tensions between Israel and Palestinians in 2011, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012
– Arab Spring from December 2010 (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, Palestine)

→ News of the challenges

– terrorism in Europe, particularly in France, since the attack on Charlie Hebdo
– late 2019 to 2021, the consequences of the so-called covid-19 pandemic

→ France’s defense policy