Counterterror expansion and networked conflict
2004 World Events
2004 is represented by eight curated specific-event records from the submitted dataset. 7 carry priority 4 or 5; the most common focus areas are Governance/Diplomacy/Political (3), Terrorism (2), Military (2). This is a structured research index, not an exhaustive history or legal finding.
Selection and evidence boundary
Eight selected records, not an exhaustive yearbook
What is established here: the source workbook selected eight specific records for consistent cross-year comparison.
What inclusion does not mean: moral approval, a complete account of the year, or final resolution of disputed attribution, figures, intent, legality, or long-term effects.
Selected factual records
Eight records for cross-year research
Open the source boundary inside each record before reusing dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, coordinates, or long-term-effect claims.
Coordinated bombs on commuter trains killed 193 people three days before Spain's election.
- Type
- Terrorist attack
- Research focus
- Terrorism
- Impact scope
- Global
- Location
- Madrid, Spain
- Actors named by the source record
- Al-Qaeda-inspired cell; commuters; Spanish authorities
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 40.4168, -3.7038
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Photographs revealed abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib prison.
- Type
- Military scandal / human rights
- Research focus
- Military / governance
- Impact scope
- Global
- Location
- Abu Ghraib / Baghdad, Iraq
- Actors named by the source record
- U.S. military personnel; detainees; investigators
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 33.2919, 44.0656
- Coordinate precision
- Site-level approximate coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Militants seized a school in North Ossetia; the siege ended in mass deaths including many children.
- Type
- Terrorist attack
- Research focus
- Terrorism
- Impact scope
- Continental
- Location
- Beslan, Russia
- Actors named by the source record
- Chechen and Ingush militants; Russian security forces; children and civilians
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 43.1889, 44.5400
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Coalition and Iraqi forces assaulted insurgent-held Fallujah in one of the Iraq War's fiercest urban battles.
- Type
- Urban battle
- Research focus
- Military
- Impact scope
- Global
- Location
- Fallujah, Iraq
- Actors named by the source record
- U.S. Marines; Iraqi forces; insurgents
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 33.3538, 43.7795
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
A massive undersea earthquake triggered tsunamis across the Indian Ocean, killing over two hundred thousand people.
- Type
- Natural disaster
- Research focus
- Disaster / resilience
- Impact scope
- Global
- Location
- Aceh / Indian Ocean, Indonesia / Indian Ocean
- Actors named by the source record
- Indian Ocean states; global humanitarian responders
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 5.5483, 95.3238
- Coordinate precision
- Regional coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Ten states joined the European Union, many formerly under Soviet influence, dramatically expanding the bloc.
- Type
- Political integration
- Research focus
- Global governance
- Impact scope
- Continental
- Location
- Brussels, European Union
- Actors named by the source record
- European Union; ten acceding states
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 50.8503, 4.3517
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Mass protests challenged a fraudulent presidential runoff and forced a repeat election.
- Type
- Political revolution
- Research focus
- Political / security
- Impact scope
- Continental
- Location
- Kyiv, Ukraine
- Actors named by the source record
- Ukrainian opposition; Viktor Yushchenko; Viktor Yanukovych; civil society
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 50.4501, 30.5234
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
The longtime Palestinian leader died in France, opening a succession and legitimacy struggle in Palestinian politics.
- Type
- Leadership transition
- Research focus
- Political / conflict
- Impact scope
- Continental
- Location
- Paris, France / Palestinian territories
- Actors named by the source record
- Yasser Arafat; Palestinian Authority; Israel
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
- Coordinates
- 48.8566, 2.3522
- Coordinate precision
- City-level coordinate
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
External historical research links
Check this year against independent archives and datasets
These destinations are selected by broad topic fit. A listed archive may not hold a record for every event, and opening it does not establish that the 2IA summary is correct.
United Nations Digital Library
Useful for checking resolution text, vote records, official statements, meeting records, and document symbols.
Open sourceUppsala Conflict Data Program
Useful for conflict definitions, event comparison, actor coding, and checking whether a claim fits the dataset's threshold rules.
Open sourceGDELT Project
Useful for identifying media attention patterns, candidate events, cross-border reporting, and questions for deeper source verification.
Open sourceReliefWeb
Useful for humanitarian situation reports, disaster chronology, response organizations, and source discovery.
Open sourceNATO Archives Online
Useful for alliance policy, committee records, strategic concepts, and institutional history.
Open sourceCIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room
Useful for declassified agency records, historical assessments, memoranda, and collection-level research.
Open sourceHow to cite and challenge this page
Verify the exact proposition, not only the event name
Dates, casualty figures, attribution, intent, legal status, coordinates, and long-term effects can have different evidence trails. Use the linked source as a starting point, locate the original or official record, compare genuinely independent sources, and submit corrections when stronger evidence changes a card.