Topic 16 - A Global Superpower Facing Change (1975-2000)

Lesson 3 - Regional Conflicts

The Soviet Union split apart in 1991. The breakup brought an end to the Cold War. It also left the United States as the world’s lone superpower.

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South Africa experienced great change during this time. What other nations experienced upheaval?

Guiding Questions

How did the end of the Cold War change America’s role in the world?
How did the United States help promote democracy around the world?
Why did the United States intervene in conflicts around the world?

Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary

A Post–Cold War World

Americans debated their function in the post–Cold War world. Some people wanted to reduce the role of the United States in world affairs. “In the post–Cold War world, we will no longer require our people to carry an unfair burden for the rest of humanity,” said Representative Dana Rohrabacher.

Others argued that the nation must not retreat from the world. They thought that the United States had a responsibility to use its power wisely. “The United States must lead, period,” declared Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Neither President George H. W. Bush nor President Bill Clinton reduced U.S. engagement around the world. Both believed that fostering freedom and democracy abroad would only strengthen the United States at home.

Disarmament

As the former Soviet Union collapsed, the world faced a menacing challenge, the spread of nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia still had thousands of nuclear missiles in their possession. Other nations were developing nuclear weapons, too.

The United States and the old Soviet Union had already agreed to several treaties reducing nuclear arms. In 1991, they signed the most important agreement yet, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START. Even more reductions followed in 1993.

How Did Nuclear Weapons Spread?

Despite such progress, a new arms race loomed. In 1970, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty came into force. (Nonproliferation means “stopping the spread of something.”) Under the treaty, nuclear powers such as the United States promised to reduce their stock of nuclear weapons and not to spread nuclear weapon technology to other nations. Nations without nuclear weapons promised not to develop them.

A few countries, including Israel, India, and Pakistan, never agreed to this treaty. According to U.S. government sources, Israel developed nuclear weapons in the late 1960s; however, Israel has never confirmed this.

In 1998, India confirmed the fears of other nations when it announced that it had conducted five nuclear tests. Two weeks later, Pakistan, its neighbor and deadly rival, exploded five nuclear devices of its own. World leaders saw the tests as the beginning of a dangerous new arms race.

President Clinton called for economic sanctions against both India and Pakistan. Sanctions are measures aimed at making a country change its policy. The sanctions had little effect. Pakistan was later found to have shared nuclear weapons technology with other countries, including North Korea.

Analyze Images After the United States, several other nations developed and tested nuclear weapons.

Use Visual Information Of those shown, which nations were associated with the West?

READING CHECK

Identify Main Ideas Why did the United States promote nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation?

What Gains Did Democracy Make Around the Globe?

The efforts of Presidents Bush and Clinton to promote global democracy supported a process that was already under way. Political freedom was spreading across the globe. With it came economic freedom, including the development of free markets with less interference from the state. In the last years of the 20th century, the United States encouraged both of these trends. American leadership met with both failures and successes.

American leadership took many forms. Sometimes the United States worked to influence foreign governments through quiet diplomacy or economic pressure. Sometimes it acted as a mediator. A mediator is an agent that helps conflicting parties come to an agreement. Occasionally the United States used military force, often in cooperation with other nations.

Where Did Democracy Take Root in Asia?

In 1986, thousands of Filipinos protested the rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. They accused Marcos of fraud in a recent presidential election.

Proclaiming “people power,” they refused to recognize Marcos as president. After weeks of demonstrations, the Philippine army joined the demonstrators. Marcos fled. The United States backed Corazon Aquino, the woman who had run against him. During the 1990s, the United States continued to provide economic aid to support the young Filipino democracy.

What Reforms Were Made in China?

After President Nixon’s historic visit to China, many hoped that the Communist nation would begin to reform. During the 1980s, China did begin to build a free-market economy. However, Chinese leaders refused to accept political reforms.

In 1989, students and workers launched a bold campaign to bring democracy to China. Hundreds of thousands gathered at Tiananmen Square in the nation’s capital, Beijing. However, the army crushed the demonstrations. Many people were killed or arrested.

President George H. W. Bush disapproved of the crackdown, but took no strong action against the Chinese government. He hoped to influence China by keeping communication open. President Clinton followed a similar policy. On a 1998 visit to China, he pledged to strengthen ties between the two nations. At the same time, he publicly debated human rights issues with China’s president.

Analyze Images Prodemocrary protests in China were stopped by the government, but not before images like this reached the rest of the world.

Infer What does this image tell about the confrontation between the protestors and government forces?

Communism in Cuba and North Korea

Other Communist nations refused to reform even when their people faced hard times. The fall of the Soviet Union deprived Cuba of its main source of trade and economic aid. As the Cuban economy spiraled downward, some 30,000 Cubans fled by boat to the United States. Still, after four decades, Cuba’s Communist dictatorship remained in power.

In 1994, the United States signed an agreement with Cuba to allow Cubans to emigrate more freely. At the same time, the United States continued to enforce a 40-year-old embargo that was aimed at toppling Fidel Castro.

On the Korean peninsula, the Cold War remained alive. There, the armies of Communist North Korea and democratic South Korea faced each other along a tense border. In the 1990s, famine struck North Korea. The famine was worsened by the economic policies of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Il.

Analyze Images As the Cuban economy faltered, thousands of Cubans fled to the United States.

Cite Evidence What effect did the fall of the Soviet Union have on Cuba?

Why Did South Africa End Apartheid?

The cause of global democracy had its most dramatic success in South Africa. Since 1948, the government of South Africa had enforced a policy of apartheid (uh PAHRT hayt), or strict separation of races. The nation’s nonwhite majority was segregated. By law, nonwhites and whites were required to use separate facilities. Nonwhites were allowed no voice in the South African government.

In 1986, Congress approved economic sanctions against South Africa to force an end to apartheid. American companies were forbidden to invest in South Africa or import South African products.

In the 1990s, in response to sanctions, South Africa moved to end white minority rule. Under a new constitution, all races were permitted to vote for the first time in 1994.

Nelson Mandela (mahn DEL uh), a black man who had spent 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid, was elected president. Mandela called for peace and reconciliation, or an agreement to come together, among South Africa’s peoples. He helped establish democracy, racial equality, and freedom in South Africa.

Analyze Images This graphic summarizes the sanctions the United States put in place against South Africa.

Cite Evidence How did the sanctions affect American businesses?

READING CHECK

Identify Supporting Details How did the United States use economic pressure to promote the spread of democracy?

What Challenges Did Russia and Eastern Europe Face?

After the Cold War, the nations that rejected communism struggled to adapt to their new freedoms. As the governments sold off state-run businesses to private enterprises, their economies were not able to adjust. The result was high unemployment and high inflation.

Russian president Boris Yeltsin sought to build a stable democracy. His efforts faltered when he failed to put down an independence movement in the Russian province of Chechnya. The United States supported Yeltsin’s democratic efforts and offered the Russian government advice on transitioning to a free-market economy.

Bosnian Civil War

In Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia faced a civil war. Yugoslavia was made up of several republics, including Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1991, Croatia and Bosnia declared their independence. However, Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia. With help from Serbia, they fought to prevent the new governments from splitting away. Fighting ended quickly in Croatia, but continued in Bosnia. During four years of civil war, more than 250,000 people died, including many children and teenagers.

To end the violence, the United States sponsored a meeting in Dayton, Ohio. There an agreement was hammered out. To help guarantee the peace agreement, President Clinton sent about 20,000 American troops to Bosnia. There, they joined NATO and Russian forces in a peacekeeping mission. The troops helped restore order.

Kosovo Seeks Independence

Kosovo, a province within Serbia, also sought greater independence. The Albanians living there were in the majority and resented Serbian rule.

In 1998, Serbs launched a series of attacks against Albanian rebels in Kosovo. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians fled the province. Many thousands of others were killed or wounded. President Clinton condemned the attacks, saying that they were “feeding the flames of ethnic and religious division.”

In March 1999, American air forces joined the air forces of other NATO nations in bombing Serbia. This drove Serbian troops out of Kosovo. NATO peacekeeping forces then entered the province. The violence in Kosovo ended, and a slow process of rebuilding began.

Analyze Images Sarajevo residents duck a sniper’s bullets during Bosnia’s civil war in 1993.

Compare and Contrast In what ways did life change in nations like Yugoslavia after the fall of communism?

READING CHECK

Summarize How did President Clinton aid peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Kosovo?

Intervention in Latin America, Africa, and Europe

In the early 1900s, the United States had frequently intervened in the internal affairs of Latin American nations. In the late 1900s, Cold War tensions led the United States to resume its active role.

Civil Wars in Latin America

During the Cold War, the United States returned to a policy of intervention in Latin American affairs. During the 1970s and 1980s, civil wars raged in several Central American countries. Rebels in El Salvador and Guatemala fought to overthrow harsh governments. The United States backed the governments because they were strongly anti-Communist. The wars cost tens of thousands of lives. To escape the fighting, thousands of refugees fled to the United States.

In Nicaragua, a rebel group known as the Sandinistas overthrew a longtime dictator in 1979 and set up a socialist government. President Reagan, afraid that Nicaragua would become another Cuba, aided a group opposed to the Sandinistas. They were known as “Contras,” from the Spanish word for “against.”

Many members of Congress disagreed with President Reagan’s policy in Nicaragua, especially after the Sandinistas won a democratic election in Nicaragua in 1984. They passed laws banning military aid to the Contras. Even so, some people on the president’s staff secretly arranged for military aid to the Contras. They arranged to sell weapons to Iran in violation of an arms embargo against the country. The administration sent over half of the millions that Iran paid for the weapons straight to the Contras to aid in their fight.

When details of the “arms-for-hostages” deal became public, many Americans were outraged. The scandal became known as the Iran-Contra affair. Two Reagan officials were tried and convicted of lying to Congress, though the convictions were later successfully appealed. Finally, in 1990, Nicaragua held new elections. Nicaraguans rejected the Sandinistas and voted in new leaders.

Analyze Images Marine Lt. Colonel Oliver North testified before Congress for six days during the Iran-Contra hearings, an investigation into a secret government arrangement to sell weapons to Iran and send the money to Nicaraguan rebels.

Identify Cause and Effect What concern was the root of the arrangement?

Tragedy in Somalia

Sometimes the American effort to bring stability to war-torn regions ended in tragedy. In 1992, American forces led a UN mission attempting to end civil war and famine in the African nation of Somalia. However, neither the American troops nor the UN were able to end the civil war. Gradually, the Americans found themselves the target of hostility. In 1993, 18 U.S. Army Rangers died in fighting while trying to restore order in the capital, Mogadishu. Shortly afterward, the United States withdrew its troops from Somalia.

Peace in Northern Ireland

By contrast, the United States successfully used diplomacy to ease conflict in Northern Ireland. Most members of the Catholic minority there wanted the region to be reunited with Ireland. Most of the Protestant majority wanted to remain under British rule. Between 1969 and 1998, more than 3,000 people died in the fighting.

The United States sent former Senator George Mitchell of Maine to aid the Northern Ireland peace talks. He helped to produce an agreement in April 1998. Although the peace process was slow and often troubled, a lasting peace settlement seemed within reach.

Analyze Images President Clinton greets an onlooker during his visit to Northern Ireland.

Cite Evidence Was U.S. involvement in the Northern Ireland conflict a success? Why or why not?

READING CHECK

Summarize Explain the Iran-Contra affair in your own words.

What Caused Conflict in the Middle East?

Conflict had long troubled the Middle East, a region extending from southwestern Asia across North Africa. Over the centuries, friction among religious groups has led to violence. European attempts to colonize the Middle East and competition for large oil reserves in the region added to tensions.

The United States had conflicting interests in the Middle East. It strongly supported the Jewish state of Israel. Yet, it also had ties to the Muslim Arab states that dominated the region and opposed Israel. Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia supplied much of the oil used by Americans.

A Jewish State

In the late 1800s, European Jews arrived in a region sometimes known as Palestine along the Mediterranean coast. They hoped to create a Jewish state in their ancient homeland. Jewish settlement grew in the 1930s as European Jews fled Nazi persecution.

In 1948, Arabs rejected a plan to divide the land into one Jewish and one Palestinian Arab state. Jews in the region announced the creation of the state of Israel. The United States and other nations quickly recognized the new nation.

Arab-Israeli Wars

Neighboring Arab nations refused to recognize the Jewish state. Instead, they attacked, but Israel won the 1948 war. More than 500,000 Palestinian Arabs fled to refugee camps in the region surrounding Israel. Most were not permitted to return after the war and were not paid for their lands and homes. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab nations fled to Israel, leaving their lands and homes behind.

Arab nations fought Israel again in 1967 and 1973. Israel defeated its opponents in both wars. In 1967, it took control of territories neighboring Israel, including areas that were home to many Palestinian Arab refugees.

The United States sent aid to Israel in the 1973 war. Arab members of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, retaliated. They cut off oil shipments to the United States and slowed down oil production. OPEC lifted the oil embargo in 1974.

GEOGRAPHY SKILLS

Israel won two wars against Arab nations in 1967 and 1973, and despite a peace accord in 1978, tensions remain high in the area.

Location What areas did Israel control after 1967?
Infer Why is the Golan Heights such a strategic area for Israel to control?

A Move Toward Peace

Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat took a bold step toward peace in 1977. He became the first Arab head of state to visit Israel. When peace talks between the two nations broke down, President Jimmy Carter invited Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (muh NAHK um BAY gin) to Camp David, the president’s retreat in Maryland.

In the Camp David Accords of 1978, Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and Egypt agreed to recognize Israel. The two nations signed a peace treaty in 1979.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (left), U.S. President Jimmy Carter (center), and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (right) at the Camp David Summit of 1979.

The Palestinian Conflict

Some Palestinian Arabs waged guerrilla war against Israel. Under Israeli rule, Palestinians in territories controlled by Israel had limited rights. Those living outside Israeli control wanted to return to their homeland under a Palestinian government. Many supported the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO. Its leader, Yasser Arafat, stated that the goal of the PLO was to destroy Israel.

In 1987, Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled West Bank and Gaza Strip took to the streets to protest Israeli rule. The unrest, called the Intifada, focused attention on the need to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After years of effort, the United States persuaded Israel and the PLO to come to the bargaining table. In 1993, the longtime enemies signed a pact in Washington, D.C. The PLO agreed to recognize Israel’s right to exist and promised to give up violence. Israel agreed to limited self-rule for Palestinian parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Despite this agreement, tensions persisted in the region.

The Iranian Revolution

The United States was deeply involved in other Middle East conflicts. In 1953, the United States helped overthrow the elected government of Iran and return the dethroned Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi to power. Then, in 1979, a revolution forced the unpopular shah to flee. A religious leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini (i yuh TOH luh koh MAYN ee), took control of Iran.

The Persian Gulf War

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, sent 100,000 troops to invade oil-rich Kuwait. President George H. W. Bush feared that the invasion was the start of a larger plan to gain control of Middle East oil. Hussein ignored demands from the United States and the UN to withdraw from Kuwait. The UN then imposed a trade boycott on Iraq.

Kuwaiti troops were trained by the United States and used U.S.-supplied equipment, such as this tank, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War with Iraq.

In 1991, when Hussein still refused to leave Kuwait, the United States and its UN allies launched an air attack on Iraq. This was followed by a massive attack on Iraqi troops in Kuwait and Iraq. Troops from 28 nations—including some Arab countries—joined the effort. It took only six weeks to defeat the Iraqis and free Kuwait.

Although the war was over, the UN boycott against Iraq continued. The goal was to force Hussein to stop his chemical and biological weapons programs. However, Hussein refused to cooperate with UN arms inspectors.

READING CHECK

Summarize What role did the United States play in the Camp David Accords?

Lesson Check

Did the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 end the spread of nuclear weapons?
How did the Camp David Accords reflect the role of the United States as a mediator?
Draw Conclusions What did events in Tiananmen Square in 1989 suggest about the chances for democracy to take hold in China?
Compare and Contrast How did the American intervention in the Kosovo and Iraq-Kuwait conflicts differ from that in the Northern Ireland and Palestinian conflicts?
Recognize Point of View Why do you think the United States was so eager to end apartheid that it applied sanctions against South Africa?
Writing Workshop: Write an Introduction and Conclusion You will need a paragraph to introduce the subject of your explanatory essay and your thesis. This introduction should provide the key ideas of your essay in a general way. The conclusion, or final paragraph, will restate your thesis and explain how the details in the essay support it. Draft an introduction and conclusion.

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