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Chapter 30: After the Fall: The Western World in a Global Age (Since 1985)…
Chapter 30: After the Fall: The Western World in a Global Age (Since 1985)
Toward a New Western Order
WWII = West divided West (prosperous, capitalistic) vs. East (impoverished, communist)
Communists ailing = Gorbachev
Soviets behind in West high tech, decline in standard of living = radical reform
Perestroika
or "restructuring" economic policy (market economy w/ limited free enterprise and some private property)
Glasnost
or "openness": citizens could discuss strengths and weaknesses of Union
Pravda
: local newspaper of Communist Party could report corruption, sloppy factory work, and protests against gov. + West music can be played
New Soviet Parliament →
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(Gorbachev president)
Ethnic minorities revolted = try to seize power and end Soviet Union (Commonwealth of Independent States)
Fall of the Soviets
(1991)
Defense policies by Reagan admin and forced Soviets into arms race = collapse of economy
Inefficient economy or multiethnicity
New Russia: power struggle btwn Soviet republics
Economic inequality + corruption showed superiority of capitalist system
Russia vs.
Chechnya
drained budget
Vladimir Putin
managed affairs of state + parliament approve centralize pwr in hands of fed. gov.
Vowed to return Chechnya to Russia, assertive role in international affairs (drained budget), reforms (economic growth, budget surplus)
Centralized control and silenced critics = pride and discipline
Revolutions of 1989
Poland's solidarity coalition form new gov., ending Communist rule (no Soviet intervention)
Hungary and Czechoslovakia created new political system = Communist gov. collapsed
Romanians living standards drop = no repression
Fall of Communist gov. = euphoria (end to postwar European order) = democratic procedures and market systems
Post Cold War East Europe want to join NATO and EU
Reunification of Germany
Oppressive regime of Erich Honecker = flight of refugees and demonstrations against regime
Fall of the Berlin Wall
= Opened border w/ West (symbol of Cold War ending)
Christian Democrats reunified Germany
Disintegration of
Yugoslavia
WWI peace treaties combined to form Yugoslavia → separatist movements
States want independence (Yugoslavian army → Serbian army)
Ethnic cleansing
killing or removing Bosnian Muslims from lands (like Nazi in WWII)
Slobodan Milošević
: leader of Serbian Communist Party said republics only independent w/ new borders
NATO and Bill Clinton retaliate for Serb attacks on civilians = encouraged to end war
Separate into Serb republic and Muslim-Croat federation
Peace in Bosnia, but not in Yugoslavia
Milošević took away Kosovo autonomy and Albanian language = Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
Serbs massacre Albanians = US and NATO want peace treaty → bombing
New Serbian gov. cooperate internationally and rebuild Serbian economy
UN, EU, and NATO try to maintain peace, but hatred btwn Kosovo Albanians and Serbs → independent nations
Germany united, lift of Iron Curtain of Cold War (no divide btwn East and West)
Discontent w/ Christian Democrats (but they won majority of votes)
Collapse of East economy → 1:1 ratio btwn East and West German marks (increase labor costs = workers from abroad)
Need to cut back on social benefits = resentments btwn west and east
Social Democrat,
Gerhard Schroeder
became prime minister (little success) =
Angela Merkel
first female chancellor (health care reform, energy policies, leading role in EU)
Thatcher's gov attempt to replace local property taxes w/ flat-rate tax = antitax riots
Tony Blair formed international coalition against terrorism, supported US war w/ Iraq = lost support
Gordon Brown
had inconclusive election results = resignation
French economic decline + unemployment
President
Jacques Chirac
: immigrants and unemployment = restricted immigration
Muslims rioted against living conditions and no employment for foreign residents (social unrest) = President
Nicolas Sarkozy
(little success)
Corruption in Italy (bribes for public contracts)
Voters let
Silvio Berlusconi
+ center-left coalition (Communist) to dominate politics
Created coalition gov. under Enrico Letta
Unification of Europe: European Community (EC) was mainly economic union not political
Sing Europe Act = united internal market, no barriers to exchange people, goods, services, and capital
Maastricht Treaty
create economic and monetary union of all EC → renamed
European Union (EU)
Introduce common currency or
euro
, European Central Bank, common agricultural policy, military force, increase Parliament power, new presidential post and voting system
Not Europeans, but committed to national identity; economic crisis, no trade barriers, bank didn't serve nations equally, members vote in favor of national interest
Goal is to incorporate east and southeast states into union (unity Europe)
President
Bill Clinton
"new Democrat": fiscal responsibility, more conservative (reduced budget deficit, welfare program)
President
George W. Bush
term occupied w/ war on terrorism and Iraq; favored tax cuts, weaken environmental laws, regulations to benefit corporations
Created the
Department of Homeland Security
after 2001 terrorist assaults and to protect US from future terrorist acts
Discontent over Iraq War, financial corruption, poor relief efforts after
Hurricane Katrina
Barack Obama
:
American financial collapse of 2008
, health care bill, regulate financial institutions, global warming, decline in educational system
Brian Mulroney's
gov. wanted privatization and free trade agreement w/ US
Jean Chretien
became prime minister w/ conservative fiscal policies, budgetary surplus
Stephen Harper
new prime minister
Canada divided over Quebec's secession
After the Cold War: New World Order or Age of Terrorism?
Gorbachev ends Cold War using "New Thinking"
Arms limitations and agreement w/ US to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons (INF Treaty)
Gorbachev wanted economic and internal reform, US had deficit problems
Ronald Reagan
years: US creditor nation → debtor nation (large military budgets = no solution for social problems)
Soviets didn't support other Communist gov. who faced internal revolt = overthrow of Communist regimes
Soviet Union end = US largest military power and end of superpower rivalry
Bush called "new world order" and others "American century" (liberal democratic values and free market capitalism)
An Age of Terrorism?
"the enemy of our generation" = terrorism (replaced Communism)
Baader-Meinhof gang
or
Red Army Faction
in Germany and
Red Brigades
in Italy were middle-class young people who denounced capitalism, revolutionary terrorism to bring down the system (left-wing)
New Order in Italy and Charles Martel Club in France bombed to create disorder and bring about authoritarian regimes
Stemmed from militant nationalities who wanted separatist states
Irish Republican Army
(IRA)
attacked ruling gov. and innocent civilians in Northern Ireland
Pan American flight 103
from Frankfurt to New York exploded by terrorist groups from Iran and Syria
Terrorist Attack on the United States
September 11, 2001
terrorists hijacked airplanes from Boston, Newark, and Washington, D.C.; flew into the
World Trade Center
in NY and the
Pentagon
near D.C.
Coordinated by
al-Qaeda
("the Base") run by
Osama bin Laden
US and NATO bombed
Taliban
command centers, airfields, al-Qaeda hiding places
Afghan and US opposed Taliban (
war in Afghanistan
)
Saddam Hussein
: Iraqi dictator provided support to bin Laden's terrorist organization and helped develop
weapons of mass destruction
Iraq War
: US attack Iraq w/o much world support, upset Arab leaders
Establishing new gov. difficult b/c of 3 major groups:
Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds
(descending into civil war)
The West and Islam
Muslims: anti-Western and anti-US
US attack on Iraq in 2003 = Islam against West
Used al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein as excuse for war
New Directions and New Problems in Western Society
The Digital Age
Toward a Global Civilization: New Challenges and Hopes
Western Culture Today