History & Politics
The Arab Spring revolutions, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the wars and leadership deaths that redrew the political map in 2011.
Every History & Politics article in the 2011 knowledge base. Use the topic filters to narrow by sub-topic.
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring was a wave of pro-democracy uprisings, armed rebellions, and civil disobedience c...
Death of Václav Havel
Václav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic and the dissident playwright who led Czec...
End of the Iraq War — U.S. Withdrawal (December 18, 2011)
On December 18, 2011, the last convoy of United States combat troops crossed the border from Iraq...
Death of Kim Jong Il
Kim Jong Il, the supreme leader of North Korea since 1994, died on December 17, 2011, from a mass...
Death of Muammar Gaddafi
On October 20, 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed by National Transition...
2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign – Early Announcements and...
The 2012 presidential race began in earnest during 2011, with a historically large and fragmented...
2011 Norway Attacks (July 22, 2011)
On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian far-right extremist, carried ou...
Rupert Murdoch's Parliamentary Testimony and Media Regula...
The 2011 phone-hacking scandal brought one of the most powerful media empires in the world into d...
News of the World Phone Hacking Scandal
Throughout 2011, a cascade of revelations dismantled one of Britain's most-read Sunday newspapers...
South Sudan independence
On July 9, 2011, South Sudan became an independent nation after a January 2011 referendum in whic...
Casey Anthony Trial Verdict
Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder charges in the high-profile death of her two-year-old daugh...
Death of Osama bin Laden
On May 2, 2011 (local time; May 1 in Washington, D.C.), U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six conducted **Opera...
Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
On April 29, 2011, Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne, married Catherine Elizab...
Onset of the Syrian Civil War (2011)
In 2011, Syria experienced a violent rupture that transformed a wave of popular pro-democracy pro...
WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning
In 2011, the international community continued to grapple with the fallout from WikiLeaks' 2010 p...
Libyan Civil War & NATO Intervention (2011)
The Libyan Civil War erupted on February 15, 2011, when anti-government protests in Benghazi esca...
Yemeni Revolution (2011)
The Yemeni Revolution was a sustained popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh that ...
Egyptian Revolution of 2011
The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 was an 18-day popular uprising that began on January 25, 2011 — a...
Tunisian Revolution (Jasmine Revolution)
The Tunisian Revolution — also called the Jasmine Revolution or the Revolution of Dignity — was a...
2011 Tucson Shooting (January 8, 2011)
On January 8, 2011, a gunman opened fire at a constituent event held by U.S. Representative Gabri...