29th
When 2011 began, Osama bin Laden was still alive, U.S. troops were still fighting in Iraq, and Iran could only dream about capturing our most advanced spy drone. By the end of the year — everything had flipped upside-down. America’s shadow wars grew, as its conventional conflicts shrank. Secret tech was suddenly not so secret any more. Dictators in place for decades suddenly found themselves out of jobs, thanks in no small part to Facebook. Even the ordinarily sacrosanct Pentagon budget was suddenly under fire. It was, in retrospect, a decidedly crazy, thoroughly exhausting, and utterly exhilarating year. It’s hard to imagine what more could be in store for 2012. (via Stealth Tech, Facebook Revolutions, Shadow Wars: The Most Dangerous Year Ever | Danger Room | Wired.com)
