After a few weeks of debate, some finetuning of the details, adding legislation to protect the interests of workers and pay raises, President Bill Clinton would sign in the bill that would create the Department of Internal Security, shuffling around several organizations into them. The Department of Internal Security functions like the ministry of internal or home affairs long with related organizations found in different countries. Skeptics remained wary of the the reason for the department's formation, especially in a time of peace and prosperity. However, Clinton rebutted, citing the Oklahoma City bombing and past domestic terrorism as reasons for this department's creation. In a sense, it would help manage the internal issues of the United States. However, it would be a diverse portfoilo and beyond the basics he revealed, it had additional underlying purposes, such as public safety and disaster relief as with more united coordination, it could deal with natural disasters along with miscellaneous issues. One example was to further tackle the issue of illegal arms smuggling. While the end of the War of Drugs would help cripple the presence of gangs over in Latin America, there was the concern that the looser gun laws of the United States could lead to more firearms smuggling. While some reforms were passed regarding the acquisition of firearms, the concern remained as it was suspected some institutions were not cooperating as well or letting things slide. Others believed that it could be more insidious matters like it being connected to things like embezzlement or things happening at the manufacturing levels. Despite this, the Department of Internal Security was here and would seem to be good enough over for President Clinton, at least for now. Apparently, while he was taking into account Vice President Gore's advice on a potential technological advisor, he believed that it was way too early for an official executive office for such things given the infancy. That said, some plans were being made to expand on government understanding of the rapidly evolving Internet landscape, especially given the presence of the American public ISP.
Meanwhile, Europe would be getting quite a bit of attention due to the various phenomena regarding the international organizatiosn there. The big one would be the large increase of members over into the European Union. Over in April, the
Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens between the
European Union and the following ten countries:
Czech Republic,
Estonia,
Cyprus,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Hungary,
Malta,
Poland,
Slovenia and
Slovakia, concerning these countries' accession into the EU. As such, it would be set that by 2004 the European Union would increase. Such matters were having rammifications in the political sphere of other nations. [1] In the United Kingdom for example, where the EU remained something of a complicated issue among some, it came up a bit as a discussion point. However, a new camp would start rising who would blend elements of different sides. They were pro-EU and saw it as important for Britain's future, but additionally, as a way to increase British prestige by taking on a leadership role. As more and more European nations were accepting joining the EU, it was becoming clear that such international organizations and spheres were part of the future along with the need of reform. Of course, not all places were undergoing as pleasant of transition. Over in Africa, new conflicts were still springing up. There was also the growing Darfur conflict which was drawing in further Ethiopian interest in the area. And then a new conflict would arise over thanks to a mlitary coup over in Central African Republic by François Bozizé. This was leading to some concerns in the UN and related groups on how such issues should be resolved and the concern if UN peacekeeping forces would need sharper teeth and more involvement. Their neighbors were also wondering on potential involvement, such as Zaire, who had been good strides in recovery after the conflict from a few years prior.
But of course, not everything was about politics in the news. One cause of celebration over in the scientific community was the completion of the
Human Genome Project, with 99% of the human
genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy. And speaking of genetics, cloning successes would be seen with Dewey, the first cloned deer, and the first cloned horse in Prometea. [1] Of course, not everything was good news. A dangerous cyclone would make landfall in Sri Lanka and caused a massive amount of havoc. Over 250 people were killed and considered the nation's worst natural disaster in 50 years. [1] However, plenty of nations would be sending in Sri Lanka to help the nation. Besides their northern neighbor in India, the Sovereign Union and China also send financial aid and assistance, though some experts were saying they had another motivation. With the SUSR having mostly recovered and China also rising up in further prominence, many would be expecting these nations to begin flexing their diplomatic muscles and grow their influence. Despite this, there was no antagonistic undertones and often, the Sovereign Union and China would be speaking with another and even with the US on these sort of international matters for peacekeeping and disaster relief. Another such would be the massive earthquake over in Algeria, specifically Algiers and resulting in the deaths of over 2200 people in the disaster. [1]
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[1]- Information and phrasing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003
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"MR PRESIDENT! MR PRESIDENT! IT'S ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA!"