Upload
edward-chase
View
233
Download
5
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
President Reagan during the 1980s
• Followed an anti-Soviet policy – Characterized the Soviet
Union as “the evil empire”– Dedicated massive amounts
of money to military spending (including “Star Wars”)
– Successfully confronted communist challenges in Grenada and Nicaragua
Reagan delivers his “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” speech in June 1987
Mikhail Gorbachev
• The USSR needed economic and political reforms
• Gorbachev started two policies:– perestroika (the “restructuring” or
decentralizing of the economy)– glasnost (“openness,” allowing more
freedom of religion and speech, including allowing people to discuss politics openly
• Gorbachev’s reforms were difficult to put into action
• By the summer of 1990, Gorbachev’s reforms were no longer being used
Collapse of the Soviet Empire
• Revolutions broke out throughout eastern Europe – communist dictators are
overthrown in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania
– Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia broke apart
• The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989 and East and West Germany united in 1990
Collapse of the Soviet Union
• August 1991 = Soviet republics declare independence from the USSR– Also in August = a group of Communist officials and army
officers stages a coup (overthrow of the government)• Dec 1991 = Gorbachev announced the end of the
Soviet Union– Boris Yeltsin, the 1st President of the Russian Federation,
outlawed the Communist Party in Russia• US now the sole superpower in the world and free
to use its military power
Collapse of the Soviet Empire
AP photo of Boris Yelstin atop an armored personnel carrier
encouraging resistance to the coup
The New World Order
Theme: International cooperation and military intervention in the post-Cold War era
“New World Order”
• “We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a new world order -- can emerge: a new era -- freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony.…
“New World Order”
• ….A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor. Today that new world is struggling to be born, a world quite different from the one we’ve known. A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak.” – President George H. W. Bush Sept 11, 1990
Post-Cold War Environment
• Cold War threats were potentially catastrophic but they were also measurable and somewhat predictable
• The desire to avoid confrontation with the USSR had provided a certain degree of order and stability
• The post Cold War period was much more vague and uncertain and many new threats emerged
CIA Director James Woolsey described the post-Cold War environment by
saying, “We have slain a large dragon (the U.S.S.R.) — but we now live in a jungle
filled with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. In many ways, the dragon was easier to keep track of.”
Tragedy in Tiananmen Square
• China was determined to stay communist– had relaxed controls on the economy, but continued to
suppress political speech and opposition to the gov’t• May 1989 Chinese students and workers held
demonstrations for democracy in Beijing – (China’s capital)
• In June government tanks and soldiers stop their protests in Tiananmen Square
• Many people were killed, hundreds of pro-democracy activists were arrested– Many were later sentenced to death
The Persian Gulf War/Operation Desert Storm
January 16, 1991 - February 27, 1991
Persian Gulf made up of: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar,
and the United Arab Emirates
Background
• Majority of region controlled by Britain until post-WWII
• Long-standing disputes between Iraq and Kuwait– 1) Iraq argues Kuwait is an Iraqi province
• Iraq was ready to invade in 1961 after Kuwait was granted independence by Britain
– 2) Iraq wants Kuwait to forgive debts Iraq owes from Iran-Iraq War• Claims Kuwait actually owes Iraq for “defending” it against
Iran– 3) Iraq accuses Kuwait of overproduction of oil/theft
of Iraqi oil
Beginning of the conflict
• August 1990 Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, invaded Kuwait
• January 16, 1991 the US invaded Iraq because it was upholding the Carter Doctrine– States that if any country tries to control the
Persian Gulf region the US will see it as an attack on US interests and will use military force in response if necessary
Using Deception to trick the Iraqis
Leaflets such as these deceived the Iraqis into
thinking the main attack would be
amphibious
Operation Desert Storm
• Our attack on Iraq as known to Americans• 6 weeks of bombing (USA bombing Iraq) and only
100 hours of ground war!• Cease-fire issued by George Bush, Sr. on February
28, 1991• The war made Hussein a hero to Arab and Muslim
extremist groups to them, he stood up to the Western Powers– These extremist groups start to resent U.S. involvement
in Saudi Arabia
Legacy of Desert Storm
• In 100 hours of combat, American forces destroyed or captured more than 3,000 tanks, 1,400 armored carriers, and 2,200 artillery pieces
• Captured almost 20,000 square miles of territory• Only about 140 soldiers died in direct combat• Erased the “Vietnam Syndrome” – the belief that the US will not gradually go into a
questionable war without a clear objective, overwhelming military force, an endgame strategy, and (most important) the support of Congress and the American people
Iraq
• The objective of Desert Storm was to liberate Kuwait, not to destroy the Iraqi army or remove Saddam
• Even though the coalition experienced amazing military success, Saddam remained in power and crushed short-lived uprisings by the Kurds in the north and the Shia in the south
• Iraqi Freedom would have the objective of changing the regime in Iraq
Panama
• 1978 = US under Carter agreed to give control of the Panama Canal back to Panama by the year 2000– US wanted to make sure Panama’s gov’t was both stable and
pro-American• General Manuel Noriega, dictator of Panama = stopped
cooperating with the US – Helped drug traffickers, harassed US military personnel
defending the canal• Dec 1989, Bush ordered American troops to invade Panama
– Troops seize Noriega sent to US to stand trial on drug charges– Troops help Panamanians hold elections and organize a new
government