Topic 17 - Meeting New Challenges (1975-Present)

Lesson 1 - Terrorism and an Unstable World

In this century, jihadism has played a significant role in global affairs. Jihadism is an Islamic fundamentalist movement that supports violence in the struggle against those seen as enemies of Islam.

Islamic fundamentalists believe that Islamic religious texts should be taken literally. Muslims, or people who follow Islam, define jihad as a struggle to achieve the goals of Islam. The struggle can take place inside a person who is trying to accept and devote himself or herself to the requirements of Islam. The struggle can also take place externally, as a person battles individuals who are opposed to Islam. Jihadists emphasize this second definition, which they use to justify violent actions that most Muslims oppose.

Believing that Islam is under attack, the goal of jihadists is to fight those they see as opponents of Islam throughout the world, often using terrorist methods. They want to remove unfriendly governments in Muslim countries and wage war against countries that they see as enemies.

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Study the photo of war-torn Aleppo, Syria. How does it show challenges faced by the region?

Guiding Questions

What are the challenges posed by jihadism?
Why are U.S. alliances important?

Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary

How Did the United States Respond to the Attacks of September 11, 2001?

On September 11, 2001, members of Al Qaeda, an international Islamist terrorist network, launched an attack against the United States. Osama bin Laden (oh SAH muh bin LAH dun) had founded Al Qaeda in 1988. Al Qaeda was based on the idea of jihadism. Most Islamic fundamentalists are not jihadists. Jihadists, however, are generally Islamic fundamentalists. They are also Islamists, or Muslims who believe that society should be governed by religious, Islamic law.

Al Qaeda pursued a strategy of terrorism, or the use of violence and cruelty to achieve political goals. Note that the vast majority of Muslims are not fundamentalists and oppose jihadism and terrorism.

Al Qaeda opposed American influence in the Muslim world and launched a number of attacks against American targets beginning in the 1990s, including on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Hundreds of people died in these attacks, which led President Bill Clinton to order the bombing of bin Laden’s headquarters in Afghanistan. In 2000, Al Qaeda attacked the USS Cole, a U.S. Navy destroyer, while it was anchored at a port in Yemen on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks shocked Americans. When the World Trade Center towers in New York City were struck by hijacked aircraft, they burned and collapsed.

Al Qaeda Attacks the United States

The East Coast’s clear blue sky on the morning of September 11, 2001, gave no indication that the day would end far differently than it began. As Americans began their day, 19 Al Qaeda terrorists prepared to seize four commercial airliners in an attack against the United States.

At 8:46 a.m., the hijackers crashed the first plane into one of the World Trade Center’s twin towers, New York City’s tallest buildings, a location later known as “ground zero.” Another plane hit the second tower about 15 minutes later. Within the hour, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon, the U.S. military headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Brave passengers on a fourth plane bound for Washington, D.C., stormed the cockpit, leading the hijackers to crash the plane into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

When the 9/11 attacks occurred, George W. Bush was fewer than eight months into his first term as President. His response to the attacks would become a defining feature of his presidency.

Within two hours of the attack, the twin towers of the World Trade Center had collapsed. The September 11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and stunned Americans. President George W. Bush quickly blamed Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

In response, the Bush administration launched what it called a global war on terrorism, far different from other wars America had fought. The enemy, less clearly defined, included terrorist groups that threatened the United States and its allies.

This effort to wipe out terrorism led the United States into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which was given the job of safeguarding security within the United States. Meanwhile, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows officials to conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists at home and abroad.

The War in Afghanistan

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, President Bush asked Afghanistan to surrender Osama bin Laden. The Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist group that controlled Afghanistan, refused.

In October 2001, with authorization from Congress, American forces invaded Afghanistan. The war began with American-led bombing missions. By the end of 2001, the Northern Alliance, made up of Afghans who opposed the Taliban, had captured the capital city of Kabul. It established a new government that was friendly to the United States.

The United States provided money to support the new Afghan government, and American forces stayed in the country. In spite of this, the new government never gained full control of Afghanistan. During the war, bin Laden escaped to Pakistan. By 2007, the Taliban had regained some of its power in Afghanistan.

When Barack Obama became President in 2009, the war in Afghanistan was still underway. Obama sent additional troops to Afghanistan to provide protection and to train Afghan forces.

As the war dragged on, American support declined. In 2014, the United States ended its combat mission, but some soldiers remained to provide support to the Afghan army.

Analyze Graphs In October 2001, the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan to try to drive out the Taliban.

Synthesize Visual Information Based on the data in the bar graph on the left, summarize the role of the United States in the international coalition that fought in the war.

READING CHECK

Identify Cause and Effect Why did the United States invade Afghanistan?

What Happened in the Iraq War?

In 2002 to 2003, tensions mounted between the United States and Iraq. Ever since the Gulf War of 1991, the United States and its allies had maintained a no-flight zone over parts of Iraq. They had also pushed for continued inspections of Iraqi military facilities. They aimed to prevent the development of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, also known as weapons of mass destruction, or WMDs—weapons that are capable of causing widespread and significant harm.

In his 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush declared that Iraq formed an “axis of evil” with Iran and North Korea. Although none of the countries had a direct connection to the September 11 attacks, Bush accused them of protecting terrorists and hiding WMDs that threatened the United States. Iraq had blocked inspections and refused to destroy weapons that violated rules set by the United Nations. In early 2003, the United States and Britain claimed to have evidence that Iraq in fact possessed WMDs.

War Breaks Out

Based on this evidence, the Bush administration wanted UN approval to go to war but said it would act with or without that approval. Congress approved a resolution that gave the President the power to use force, if necessary.

In March 2003, although Iraq had allowed UN officials to conduct inspections and had begun destroying weapons, U.S. officials said that Iraq had not done enough to address concerns. U.S. and British forces began bombing targets inside Iraq and then sent troops into the country. After a month, U.S. forces occupied the capital city of Baghdad. In May, Bush declared the war concluded. No working WMDs were ever found. In December, American forces captured Saddam Hussein and turned him over to an Iraqi court for trial. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to death in 2006.

In the meantime, the United States had transferred control to a temporary Iraqi government in 2004. The next year, Iraqis elected a national assembly that had the difficult job of organizing a government despite ongoing violent conflicts among the country’s Sunni Muslim Arabs, Shia Muslim Arabs, and ethnic Kurds. Despite Bush’s earlier claim, the Iraq War was not yet finished. U.S. forces faced the tasks of supporting the government and trying to end the violence. In fact, U.S. involvement in the war would continue until 2011.

Mixed Results and Withdrawal

The United States paid a heavy price for the Iraq War. Almost 5,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died. After eight years, the war cost more than a trillion dollars. Saddam Hussein was removed from power, but that did not bring peace to Iraq. Iraqis looted businesses and homes. Shiite and Sunni Arabs fought each other, and Arabs fought ethnic Kurds in the north. An insurgency, or armed rebellion, arose against American soldiers and the Iraqi government. The new Iraqi government was too weak to manage the country.

As the war continued, support for it decreased. In spite of this, the Bush administration increased the number of American forces with a troop surge. The surge reduced ethnic and religious violence in the country for a time but did not end it.

In 2008, Iraqis demanded a plan for the withdrawal of American troops. In 2011, President Obama ordered the removal of American troops from Iraq. In December of that year, the last 500 soldiers left Iraq, with the exception of a few guarding the American embassy.

The Islamic State

During the war in 2014, a jihadist group based in Syria and calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gained control of much of western Iraq. The group, which follows an extreme form of Islam that most Muslims reject, ruled in a brutal, violent way. Its members often recorded their acts and shared them over social media to terrorize people all over the world. In summer and fall 2014, the United States and international partners, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, launched airstrikes to prevent ISIL, also known as ISIS, from taking more territory.

Groups affiliated with ISIL also had a presence in places such as northern Africa and carried out terrorist attacks. In Europe, ISIL-affiliated groups attacked an airport and a nightclub. People who claimed to be inspired by ISIL carried out attacks in the United States in 2015 and 2016.

GEOGRAPHY SKILLS

The Iraqi population is composed of many different ethnic groups.

Place On which river is Baghdad located?
Infer Identify the areas in Iraq where ethnic conflicts might have been most likely to occur.

READING CHECK

Identify Supporting Details How did the United States and Britain justify attacking Iraq?

What Are the Continuing Challenges of Jihadism?

In 2011, nearly 10 years after the September 11 attacks, American forces captured and killed Osama bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan. Bin Laden’s death, however, did not signal the end of jihadism, Al Qaeda, or the threat of terrorism. Indeed, organizations linked to Al Qaeda seemed to be expanding after 2010. Meanwhile, the United States faced questions about how it had conducted the war on terrorism.

President Barack Obama and his advisers followed the raid of Osama Bin Laden’s compound on closed-circuit television.

Policy Questions

Following the September 11 attacks, Bush administration officials argued that many areas of international law did not apply to the war on terrorism. They said this was especially true of laws on the treatment of prisoners, because members of Al Qaeda were not part of a regular national army. The Department of Defense approved methods of forcing prisoners to reveal information that some critics labeled as torture.

Relations with Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan have also posed challenges. While the United States supported a new Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai during the early 2000s, his government faced widespread accusations of corruption. Karzai also grew increasingly hostile toward the United States.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, which received U.S. aid and provided an important supply route to Afghanistan, was accused of supporting the Taliban, which was fighting the Afghan government. Members of Pakistan’s military were also accused of sheltering Osama bin Laden, who lived for years near a major Pakistani military base.

A Resilient Force

By 2012, jihadist movements had taken root in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia, and the United States began attacking jihadists in these countries. Many of these jihadists were linked to Al Qaeda. Despite U.S. attacks, mainly by pilotless drone aircraft, jihadists seemed to remain strong in parts of these countries.

Meanwhile, jihadist groups had a growing presence in other parts of the Muslim world. They fought the government of Iraq after the U.S. withdrawal. Jihadist groups also launched violent attacks in Algeria, Mali, and Nigeria. U.S. policymakers were concerned about the spread of jihadists hostile to the United States and its allies. They struggled to find an effective way to counter them.

In Syria, a civil war broke out in 2011 between the government of Bashar al-Assad and forces who opposed it. Different groups later joined the fighting, including ISIL. As of 2017 the war had killed more than 250,000 civilians and caused widespread destruction. As a result of the conflict, millions of refugees fled Syria for Europe and other places.

Analyze Images In Amman, Jordan, in 2012, jihadists protest the United States.

Understand Effects How does jihadism in other countries affect the United States?

READING CHECK

Draw Conclusions What do you think the impact of the flood of refugees might be?

What Has Been Done to Stop the Spread of Nuclear Weapons?

The spread of nuclear weapons is known as nuclear proliferation. By the early 2000s, most countries in the world, including the United States, had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT required countries that already had nuclear weapons to reduce their number of weapons.

The NPT also prohibited countries that did not have nuclear weapons from acquiring them. All countries, however, could use nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The goal of non-proliferation is to reduce the chance of nuclear war.

Analyze Diagrams Nuclear fuels (such as uranium) must be enriched to produce energy. Nuclear weapons require greater enrichment.

Identify Supporting Details What step follows energy production in order to develop nuclear weapons?

Nuclear Tensions With North Korea

As the United States and the global community monitored nuclear proliferation, North Korea was one country that attracted attention. In 1985, North Korea joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Since North Korea did not have nuclear weapons at that time, it was prohibited from obtaining them.

International concern about its nuclear program led North Korea to use the program as a negotiating tool. In the 1990s, North Korea offered to end its nuclear program if the United States and other nations assisted North Korea with the construction of nuclear power plants.

Both sides reached an agreement in 1994. However, both sides accused each other of failing to live up to the agreement. In 2001, President George W. Bush announced that he would not negotiate with North Korea until it met a list of conditions. In response, North Korea resumed its nuclear program and withdrew from the NPT. In 2009, North Korea successfully conducted a nuclear weapon test. The country’s leaders have claimed successful tests since that date, but they have not been confirmed.

The United States and international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) launched efforts to respond to North Korea’s nuclear program. North Korea’s nuclear program caused international concern because of the possibility of nuclear attacks or a nuclear disaster.

The UN Security Council, including the United States, condemned North Korea’s nuclear testing and imposed sanctions on trade with North Korea. Even China, North Korea’s closest ally, supported UN Security Council resolutions requiring North Korea to end its nuclear program. In spite of this, North Korea continued constructing and testing nuclear weapons.

Analyze Visuals The North Korean government spends around a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product on the military.

Use Visual Information What elements in the visual verify the information in the image caption?

Iran’s Nuclear Program

Iran’s nuclear program also alarmed the United States and other countries. Because the Iranian government had expressed strong hostility to Israel, a U.S. ally, Israel voiced special concern. In the 1980s, the U.S. government asked other countries not to sell nuclear technology to Iran. It imposed sanctions that harmed Iran’s economy. The United States also partnered with other countries, as it had done before in attempts to end North Korea’s nuclear program. Major Western powers moved to restrict Iran’s access to the international financial system.

These efforts limited Iran’s ability to sell oil, its most important export, which caused economic problems in Iran. In 2013, Iranians elected a new president, Hassan Rouhani, who was willing to negotiate with the United States and other powers over nuclear weapons. Negotiations to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons began in 2013. Three years later, six countries, including the United States, reached an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program. In exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Iran said it would stop enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. Critics were doubtful the deal would be effective.

READING CHECK

Identify Main Ideas What is the main purpose of the NPT?

Unrest in Southwest Asia and North Africa

The United States has strong ties to North Africa and Southwest Asia, the area sometimes called the Middle East. This region lies where the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe meet. It is a region inhabited by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. As in past years, old conflicts in this region continued after 2000, and new conflicts emerged. The United States was a close ally of Israel, a mainly Jewish nation. At the same time, the U.S. economy relied on the oil production of Muslim nations, such as Saudi Arabia. The United States tried to resolve conflicts in this region. It remained committed to supporting democracy, its allies, and its own national interests.

Ongoing Arab–Israeli Tensions

In 2003, President George W. Bush presented a “road map to peace” in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The goal was an independent Palestinian state and peaceful relations between Palestinians and Israelis.

Bush called for an end to the violence and for Israel to withdraw its troops permanently from Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel had occupied in 1967. However, resistance on both sides made the “road map” unworkable. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, nonetheless, announced that he would withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians. Israel continued to control Gaza’s boundaries, waters, and airspace. Israel also continued a policy of building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In 2007, tensions between Israel and Gaza increased when Hamas, an organization labeled as terrorist by Israel and the United States, came to power in Gaza. When rockets launched from Gaza killed Israeli civilians, Israel attacked Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. These attacks resulted in Palestinian civilian deaths.

Israel continued to restrict the flow of supplies and people across Gaza’s borders. The U.S. government again supported Israel’s actions as justified in terms of self-defense and continued to try to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

In 2014, another round of violence flared up between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. Hamas fired missiles into Israel, killing some civilians. Again, Israel bombarded Gaza and sent troops into the territory, resulting in many civilian deaths. An end to the cycle of violence seemed far away.

GEOGRAPHY SKILLS

Israelis and Palestinians have disagreed over control of the West Bank for some 50 years.

Interaction Describe the way the Palestinian territories in the West Bank are organized.
Draw Conclusions Based on information from the map, why might the Israeli capital of Jerusalem be a site of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?

What Has Caused Unrest in the Middle East?

Unrest within the Arab world extended beyond the Arab–Israeli conflict. In early 2010, protests against undemocratic governments began in Tunisia and spread to other Arab countries. Together, these pro-democracy protests became known as the Arab Spring. In Egypt, protestors called for President Hosni Mubarak to step down after almost three decades of leading an undemocratic government. The United States agreed with the protestors, but the Obama administration moved cautiously in its support for the Arab Spring.

Pro-democracy movements spread to other Arab countries. In Syria, where the Arab Spring also triggered a civil war, the loss of life totaled 100,000 people or more. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the military overthrew the democratically elected government. The Obama administration expressed sympathy and gave limited support to democratic forces in both countries but worked to keep U.S. forces out of these conflicts.

Analyze Visuals Protesters gather in Cairo, Egypt, in 2011 to demand that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak step down.

Draw Conclusions Why might the sign in the photo be in English?

READING CHECK

Identify Cause and Effect Why did Israel attack Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009?

How Did the United States Assist Other Nations?

In 2005, President George W. Bush declared that the United States must “extend democracy throughout the world.” This commitment has led America to assist its allies and other nations.

The U.S. military often participates in relief operations, such as this one after a hurricane in Haiti in 2016.

As a member nation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), the United States has supported the addition of Eastern European countries to the military alliance. Russia opposed the addition of countries that were under Soviet rule during the Cold War. The growth of NATO reinforced the U.S. goal of a free and peaceful Europe.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, NATO reaffirmed its commitment to protecting its easternmost members. The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia.

The United States also supported its allies through President Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia.” This policy called for the United States to strengthen its relationships with nations in the Pacific Rim.

It also helped the United States monitor the actions of the Chinese government. China threatened the peace of the region by asserting claims to islands also claimed by Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Besides protecting American interests in the Pacific, the “pivot to Asia” supported allies such as Japan.

READING CHECK

Draw Conclusions Why do you think Russia opposed the addition of former Soviet countries to NATO?

Lesson Check

What role did jihadism play in the September 11 attacks?
What was the Arab Spring?
Summarize How has the United States supported its allies in Europe, Africa, and Asia since 2005?
Understand Effects What were the successes and failures of the U.S. war effort in Iraq?
Identify Supporting Details How did jihadists continue their mission after Osama bin Laden’s death? How did the United States respond?
Writing Workshop: Generate Questions to Focus Research Write three to four questions about societal changes in the United States following the attacks of September 11, 2001. These questions will help you focus your research on the topic of technological innovations and social changes for a research paper you will write at the end of the topic.

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