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59: POLITICAL, SOCIAL & ECONOMIC EVOLUTION IN THE USA FROM 1945.…

- - - - Some historians allege that US diplomacy in Cold War years to make world safe for capital (not democracy). For many countries, the "political system" which has been tolerated to preserve capitalism has been one of military or monarchical rule, or even prolonged civil war.
        
        US spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined - clearly not a country that has kept its hands to itself. US Cold War action has systematically undermined democratic movements around the world.
  - - - US = only major industrial power to emerge intact— (even economically strengthened) from war.
        
        Aim: consolidate & maintain no.1 position in world, secure the dominance of capitalism & shape the postwar world according to Atlantic Charter: self-determination, equal economic access, & a rebuilt capitalist Europe. Communism = THREAT to this.
        
        Truman committed to halting the spread of communism. Pledged American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." **CONTAINMENT **
        
        Creation of new international agencies to ensure capitalist, international economy: the World Bank & the IMF
    - - International events (new communist govts in eastern Europe & Soviets exploding 1st atomic bomb & Communist Party taking power in China etc) led to increasing hysteria over spread & threat of communism
        
        Led to McCarthyism: in 1950 U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy asserted that communists had infiltrated the govt. Result: 1000s of public servants inc teachers etc lost jobs as suspected of comm. sympathies & much lit. blacklisted eg Brecht, Arthur Miller etc.
        
        Inculcated deep mistrust of communism & socialism that is still v much present today.
        
        Decade & half after end WW2 often called the Age of conformity - nation’s large m/c embraced values of the nuclear family & sought happiness in the newfound abundance of consumer goods.
  - - - Korean war: cold war tensions spilled out into international conflict.
        
        Korea had been occupied & controlled by both US & Soviets since ‘liberation’ in 1945 from Japan. US - capitalist system in south, Soviets comm. in north. In Cold War each part claimed sovereignty over all.
        
        In early 1950s N Korea invaded S.
        
        US sent troops - aim = preserve US bases there &protect capitalism.
        China aided north. US led forces were close to defeat until UN intervened too. Stalemate - war of attrition until treaty in 1953.
        
        Major conflict of Cold War - approx 3 million war fatalities (inc. over 50,000 Americans) & a larger proportional civilian death toll than WW2 or Vietnam
        
        Left Truman facing a hostile China, a Sino(Chinese)-Soviet partnership, & huge defence budget.
  - - - Height of CWar - foreign policy dominated agenda.
        
        Beginning of escalation of role in Vietnam
        
        CUBA - 1961 - CIA attempted to depose Pres Fidel Castro through Bay of Pigs Invasion - failed.
        
        CIA aggressively pursued efforts to overthrow Castro - 600 assassination attempts & facilitating U.S.-sponsored terrorist attacks in Cuba.
        
        American efforts to sabotage Cuba played significant role in events leading up to Cuban Missile Crisis (confrontation with Soviet Union - considered closest CWar came to full-scale nuclear war)
        
        Home
        
        Promised a New Frontier of domestic social & economic reform
        
        Created Peace Corps, initiated "space race" (man on moon 1969), worked to ↑ affordable housing, equal pay for women etc and unleashed war on organised crime
        
        BUT - overly cautious navigation of civil rights issues as reluctant to lose southern support for legislation
        
        Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas Nov 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald
  - - - After RP - Blk ppl yr long bus boycott. MLK- 1 of the leaders. Following yrs saw many more protests - sit ins, marches, strikes, speeches.
        
        MLK *I have a dream* 1963. Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Assassinated 1968
        
        Malcolm X - another imp. campaigner - advocated use of direct action/violence. Assassinated 1965
        
        New president (Lyndon B. Johnson) supported civil rights. His Great Society (aimed to end poverty & hunger, reduce crime, abolish inequality & racial barriers & improve environment) expanded civil rights
        
        Passed Civil Rights Act of 1964 - hugely significant. Outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex & national origin. Prohibits racial segregation in schools & public accommodations, employment discrimination
        
        Also The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Immediate impact - within 4 yrs voter registration in South had doubled.
        
        In 1965 - Set up Medicare & federal student loans to enable access to HE.
  - - - US (under Eisenhower & Kennedy) began bankrolling French war efforts & sending military advisors to train southern V troops. Failure. Policy of containment - feared domino theory would lead to other countries in SE Asia becoming communist too.
        
        Troops sent after American naval vessel attacked in Gulf of Tonkin.
        
        By 1968 - 0.5m troops in Vietnam. Brutal war. Carpet bombing (3m tonnes - more than ALL dropped in Europe in WW2) napalm, mines etc.
        Viet Cong - guerrilla tactics. Daggers! V low grade weaponry. Simple! Jungle for cover.
        
        Atrocities - eg My Lai massacre- 350 mainly women & children killed. Broadcast in colour on TV. Severely damaged America’s reputation
        
        Mounting criticism home & abroad. ↑ casualties. 2.8 m troops served in total! Cost - $20 billion per year! YET - America LOSING.
        
        Backdrop - civil rights, Women’s Liberation movement, politicisation of young people, hippy movt, sexual liberation etc - coincided with ↑ opposition to war. Huge protests. Opposition to the draft.
        
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- - - - Nixon also- 1973 Chilean Coup - Democratically elected Salvador Allende (threat to capitalist interests - pledged to nationalise US-owned copper companies) deposed in violent coup by CIA-backed opponents - led to dictatorship of General Pinochet & execution & imprisonment of 1000s
  - - - Supposedly reoriented foreign policy towards emphasis on human rights BUT only when doing so would not conflict with US geopolitical interests & US corporations and banks.
        
        Continued conciliatory late Cold War policies, normalising relations with China & pursuing further Arms Limitation Talks with Soviet Union.
        
        Ended support to US-backed Somoza regime (Nicaragua) & to dictatorships of Augusto Pinochet (Chile) & Jorge Rafael Videla (Argentina) etc BUT ↑ aid to dictatorship in El Salvador.
        
        Perhaps best known for Camp David Accords, which established a peace treaty between Israel & Egypt. BUT failed to guarantee any rights for Palestinians.
        
        Recession 1980 - waning popularity. Lost 1980 election - landslide to Rep. Ronald Reagan
        
        Eg - notably absent in Iran where Carter praised the Shah (dictator installed by CIA in 1953 coup) for progressive administration, as security forces massacered 1000s of unarmed demonstrators.
- - - - HOME
        
        "Reaganomics" = eco deregulation & cuts in taxes & govt spending. Fought unions & cut benefits eg unemployment & family aid
        
        Passed policies to encourage dev of private business & routinely criticized & defunded the public sector.
        
        Severe recession 1982 pushed unemployment rate to 11%
        
        ALSO criticised for delayed & muted action on AIDS pandemic which was sweeping US.
      - FP
        
        Interference in LA: under excuse of fighting communism, Reagan supplied huge amounts of funds & weapons to mass murderers including dictator of El Salvador & Efrain Rios Montt of Guatemala
        
        Supported apartheid in S Africa, & with Thatcher (political soulmate) placed Mandela & ANC on terrorist watch list. Tried to block a bill that would impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa. The House overrode his veto.
        
        Widely viewed as being a racist, esp after described Tanzanian UN delegates as monkeys.
        
        Afghanistan gave military backing to Mujahideen fighters vs the Soviet proxy government there.
        
        Led bombing campaign vs Libya & 1983 - illegal invasion of Grenada.
- - - - Did pass Disabilities Act (1990) & Clean Air Acts
        
        Tried to balance books - after Reagan’s military spending spree = $220 billion deficit. BUT - v difficult as against tax raises & reductions to military spending . Eventually broke promise - alienated him among extreme right wingers.
  - - - Also ordered the invasion of Panama to overthrow a rogue dictator (previous ally)
        
        Also during presidency: fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 & dissolution of Soviet Union 1991.
        
        1.9. The Clinton Administration (1993-2001)
        
        Largely domestic focus
        
        Emergence of technology-driven "new economy" - ↑ production, low inflation & ↓ in unemployment to below 5 %. Longest period of peacetime economic expansion in US history.
        
        Vowed to reform healthcare (but failed, as Rep’s gained control of Congress)
        
        Immigration esp from Latin America & Asia ↑ - Hispanics replacing African-Americans as the largest minority.
        
        Impeached for lying under oath about Lewinsky affair but acquitted & finished 2nd term. Despite this, remains a v popular president.
        
        FP
        
        Successfully deployed American military forces to stop wars & ethnic cleansing in Bosnia & Kosovo, expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe & involved in N Irish peace talks.
        
        1.10. The George W. Bush administration (2001-2009)
        
        2001 - recession. Bush approved large tax cut - aim = revitalising the economy. Outlined ambitious domestic agenda BUT then = 9/11 (2001) - almost 3,000 killed.
        
        Bush announced "war on terror" vs Osama bin Laden & al Qaeda.
        
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        The financial crisis and recession 2008
        
        Worst financial crisis since Great Depression. Origins: policy & regulatory failure & banking greed
        
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        Sparked worldwide recession - Europe & Japan hard hit, while China, India & Canada fared better.
- - - - 1st move: $787-billion stimulus package to boost economy (in crisis) Tax cuts, extended unemployment benefits etc
        
        Affordable Care Act - tried to make health system fairer
        
        Advanced LGBT rights -allowed gay, lesbian & transgender ppl to serve openly in military
        
        Agreed to substantially reduce carbon emissions - signed agreement with China
    - - Aimed to close Guantanamo but failed (though did ↓ prisoners)
        
        Withdrew troops from Iraq Dec 2011
        
        At same time, ↑ troops in Afghanistan. Announced Bin Laden killed 2011
        
        Negotiated New START treaty with Russia - significant ↓ in nuclear arsenals
        
        Restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba in 2014 (1st Pres to visit in 60 yrs)
        
        BUT - ↑ funding to Israel & US vetoed a SC resolution condemning Israeli settlements 2011
- - - - Slashed taxes & deregulation. Protectionist trade policies eg tariffs in foreign aluminium & steel.
        
        Climate change denier - rolled back 100s environmental policies/regulations, reduced renewable energy budget by 40% & withdrew from Paris Agreement
        
        Depended right to bear arms & supported capital punishment
        
        COVID: reacted slowly, contradicted recommendations, spread misinformation
    - - Trump = nationalist & foreign policy was "America First"
        
        Moved US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem & developed even closer ties with Israel.
        
        Ordered travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries
        
        Initiated trade war with China
        
        Diverted military funding toward building wall on Mexico border & implemented policy of family separations. ‘Zero tolerance’
        
        Lost re-election to Biden but claimed widespread voter fraud. Violent breaching of Capitol by supporters - Trump impeached on charges of incitement of insurrection. (Only pres to be impeached 2x).
        
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- - - - Concept of cultural hybridity,- individual’s physical & cultural self = 2 different halves of the same whole
      - Bilingualism = popular theme - reflecting both alienation & strong cultural identity that comes from being a non-native English speaker in US
      - Gender issues remain major topics & ↑ gay & lesbian authors are bringing their concerns into focus.