Unit 5: Complex Domestic and Foreign Issues (1992-present)
Unit Overview:
This unit spans the years 1992 to the present year. Significant events/themes covered in the unit:
Presidency of Bill Clinton
Economic boom of 1990's
NAFTA, WTO, and IMF
Triumph of free market capitalism and global investment
Presidency of George W. Bush
9/11 and the War on Terror
The Great Recession
Arab Spring and European Debt Crisis
Unit Essay: A New World Order
In order to get credit for this project you must write an essay on the following topic:
A New World Order
Throughout the Cold War, the West had dramatically overestimated the strength and vitality of its communist foes, and the late 1980's saw the advent of the unthinkable: a complete collapse of Soviet Union and the virtual collapse of the rest of the communist world. By 1991, after 46 long years of opposition, the Cold War was finally over, and US President George H.W. Bush commented that the world was witnessing the rise of a "New World Order". Consider what you have learned about the developments and issues of the modern, post-Cold War world, and write an essay of 600 words or more explaining what this New Order President Bush spoke of is.
Some possible topics to discuss in your essay:
The suggestions above are only suggestions, and you should feel free to discuss whatever you would like in the essay. Basically this is an essay about the modern world. What is the New World Order? Who is in control and/or what is important? What are the economic, political, and social realities for America and the planet in the 21st century? As you sit down to write your essay and consider its organization, remember that you are basically trying to describe the world of the 21st century.
Unit Videos: Key Terms:
Commanding Heights Episode 3 (1:55:31)
Who Killed the Electric Car? (1:28:40)
Ascent of Money Episode 3 (56:04)
Ascent of Money Episode 4 (55:04)
Frontline: Kill/Capture Program (53:39)
Unit Lectures:
Unit Primary Sources:
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 5 Key Terms:
1. Election of 1992
2. Brady Bill
3. Family and Medical Leave Act
4. "Don't ask don't tell"
5. Monica Lewinsky
6. USS Cole bombing
7. Election of 2000
8. September 11 Attacks
9. War on Terror
10. Iraq War
11. Kyoto Protocols
12. Global Warming
13. Globalization
14. NCLB
15. Hurricane Katrina
16. sub-prime mortgage crisis
17. election of 2008
18. European Debt Crisis
19. Great Recession
20. Arab Spring
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)