With the transition from 2009 into 2010 we say goodbye to what has been a turbulent decade, in which the world has faced new challenges. At the beginning of the new millennium it was difficult to contemplate that less than a year later the world would be faced with looming financial crisis and one of the most shocking scenes from the whole decade, September 11th, in which nearly three thousand people lost their lives and has since led to a series of events in which hundreds have been killed in conflict. Like many others growing up at the time, I remember coming come from school and seeing every television channel covering the scenes in New York as millions across the world looked on in horror as the two towers collapsed to the ground.

The journey towards 2010 is one characterised by the eight years of the Bush administration in the United States, and the premiership of Tony Blair in Britain as the two men re-positioned their nations, dominated the landscape of Western politics and sent troops to to war twice, once with and once without the backing of their allies and the United Nations. Although both men have bowed out of office before the turn of the decade, the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq will continue to play a significant role in the foreign affairs of both nations for sometime to come and certainly won’t be forgotten as we head into the new year, with the ongoing Iraq War Inquiry due to call both Blair and his successor Gordon Brown to give evidence over the lead up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. I posted a while ago about learning the lessons from Iraq, and having an open and public inquiry, It’s just a shame we never seem to take enough notice of the past – history can provide us with many answers. If we had, perhaps we still wouldn’t be losing soldiers on foreign soil. Perhaps we wouldn’t be having to use public funds to support the banking system had we learnt from the past that big corporations cannot be left to their own devices without regulation that works. We were lucky to have world leaders calling for cooperation at a time of financial meltdown, but things may have been different and with a General Election looming this year decisions in the UK could have been drastically different had the Tories been in power. The media seems certain that David Cameron will be Prime Minister by June, but things change very quickly. His empty message of change may be an attempt to ride on the back of Barack Obama in the United States, but the rhetoric cannot disguise the seeming lack of policy. Perhaps the agreed televised debates will enable people greater access to the plans of the political parties should they succeed in the election – but lets hope policy wins the day instead of a costume aimed to disguise the same old Tories.

On a lighter note, the past decade has provided some incredible memories in sporting history. Not only due to the huge record breaking results in many competitions but also surrounded by scandal. But it has also managed to set up one of the most exciting decades of sport for the United Kingdom – while continuing to deliver new challenges. In 2005 London celebrated after beating Paris in the close race to host the 2012 Summer Olympics while two years later Glasgow faced little competition to secure the Commonwealth Games in 2014 – two exciting opportunities for Britain to showcase itself and inspire new generations. But only will Britain’s ‘Decade of Sport’ deliver for inspiration, but also as the catalyst for change in deprived areas of some of the largest cities in the country. The next 10 years will give an exciting chance to bring world class sport back to the UK. 2010 brings with it some exciting sporting events including three major competitions – the Winter Olympic Games head to Vancouver while South Africa hosts the football World Cup and India welcomes the Commonwealth Games – three nations destined to prove their ability to invest and deliver. Not to mention the return of Michael Schumacher in Formula1 – or can a Briton win for the third consecutive season?

Only time will tell, but 10 years on from the Millennium Bug fiasco the world of communication has changed considerably – for one, social networking and blogs have change the way we convey opinions. As the media look for new ways to charge us for biased communication, perhaps the future really will be in communally driven reporting online? It is a great testament to the successes of the ‘noughties’ that so many of us can share so much online.

I look forward to being able to share my thoughts and opinions with you as we head into the new year as we set ourselves new challenges after a decade of huge change. Happy New Year and I hope that 2010 brings with it everything you hope for. Thank you for reading and commenting on what i’ve been up to throughout 2009, it has been an interesting year and I have enjoyed every day.