Post Cold War AmericaThe New Order

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, America became the sole world super power. This change in the balance of world power

would present new challenge to the nation and our role in the world.

The New World Order

When the Soviet Union collapsed, President H.W. Bush began referring to, “The New World Order”. At first, this just meant a new chance at cooperation between the nations, but late became more…

• Energy Security• Coalition Building• No more isolationism• One Superpower (unchallenged at first)• Pressure through economics (capitalism)

Bush’s critics said the New World Order was, “ A rationalization for imperial ambition”.

Regardless, this period introduced more/new military

and economic challenges around the globe.

Tiananmen Square Massacre

Tiananmen Square Massacre

This event occurred just before the fall of the USSR. Still, it represented a challenge to the way America

would respond to post-Cold War challenges.

In 1989, students in China began protesting for more freedoms and reforms. In particular, they sought out

more say in their government (democracy).

There were protests throughout the nation, but the best know were in the capitol city, Beijing

(Tiananmen Square).

On June 4th, the Chinese military came in to violently

retake Tiananmen.

The students had been warned previously, but they refused to leave. Estimates of the number killed were anywhere from 200 to 1000.

Cuba, Czechoslovakia and East Germany expressed support for the Chinese

government, but condemnation came from almost every other part of the world.

China’s Asian neighbors remained mostly silent.

The United States was experiencing a generally positive economic relationship with China at the time.

The European Union and the United States began an arms

embargo against China to protest the crackdown.

The Tiananmen Massacre gave them an excuse to slow

down China’s military growth.

Right or wrong, the embargo was convenient for the Western world. American and European governments had been

worried about China’s rise as a military power for some time.

The Gulf War(Iraq early 1990s)

August 1990- February 1991

In 1990, Iraq accused its neighbor, Kuwait of drilling into Iraqi oil fields. Iraq then invaded Kuwait and took over the small nation.

Iraq claimed that Kuwait had historically been part of Iraq anyway.

However, Iraq clearly had other reasons.

• Iraq had better access to the Persian Gulf without Kuwait in the way.

• Iraq would gain control of Kuwait’s rich oil fields.

• Iraq then sent its troops to the border with Saudi Arabia threatening another oil-rich nation.

Both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were economic allies of the U.S.

The United States built up a large military coalition of 15 nations and other supporting nations.

Contributing Coalition Nations

After trying to negotiate, and working with the U.N. to get Iraq out of Kuwait, the

coalition attacked and easily defeated Iraqi forces. Kuwait was independent again.

On the way out, Iraq set many Kuwaiti oil wells on fire and allowed Kuwaiti oil to flow into the gulf.

This created a large environmental disaster.

The Gulf War was the first large military test of the U.S.

in a post-Cold War world.

The U.S. proved its military dominance, but also the importance of forming

coalition to gain legitimacy.

Coalition: 292 killed and 776 woundedIraq: 20,000-35,000 killed and 75,000 wounded200 Kuwaitis were also killed with more missing

American Leadership:The Breakup of Yugoslavia

In the mid-1990s, the U.S. faced another challenge in the post-Cold War world. The former Yugoslavia (a nation of

multiple ethnicities formed after WWI) began to fall apart.

When the country began to break up, different groups were fighting for territory. Eventually seven new nations were formed.

The mission was first a peace keeping mission, but expanded to air campaigns, and finally ground

troops (60,000).

Beginning in 1992, the U.S. led a NATO operation in the region.

The U.S. provided leadership and pressure particularly when reports of “ethnic

cleansing” became public and credible.

Like the Gulf War, this conflict proved the necessity of coalition building with U.S. leadership in a world without two superpowers.

Free Trade

Free trade agreements became more common in the 1990s.

Nations recognized a need to expand their markets and cooperate with others.

Example: NAFTA January 1, 1994(North American Free Trade Agreement)

Goal: Eliminate barriers to trade and investment between Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico

This agreement that came into play during President Clinton’s presidency and was very controversial.

For some, the following were seen as disadvantages:

• Increased competition• Less control over quality• Loss of some domestic jobs• Lack of environmental controls

For others, the following were seen as advantages:

• New technologies to become more efficient• Reduction or elimination of tariffs • Access to more human resources• Increased access to new markets

As the economy became more global, many industries had to change the way they

conducted business.

Example: The automobile industry during 2nd half of 20th century.

American cars dominated the American market in the 50s and 60s, but foreign companies began exporting to the U.S. in the 70s and 80s.

As barriers to trade were reduced between nations across the globe, American auto

makers had to find new ways to compete.

Tariffs, and the initial low quality of foreign cars kept the American market going, but as tariffs were reduced, and foreign quality increased, the U.S. auto makers felt increased pressure.

In the early 1990s, fuel was inexpensive and large SUVs

became popular. This market was unique to the U.S.

New government rules about fuel efficiency did not hurt production because auto makers could average

out fuel efficiency across their product lines.

U.S. auto companies also began buying controlling interests in foreign makers.

• GM purchased interests in Saab, Subaru, and Fiat between 1990 and 2000.

• Ford purchased Volvo and Land Rover in 1999.

At the same time, foreign producers were setting up factories in the U.S. particularly in the South where unions were weaker.

In short, the auto market became global and makers were producing cars in many parts of the world.

Competition increased, but so did access to new markets.

September 11th and The Invasion of Afghanistan

On September 11th, 2001, the United States was attacked.

Using hijacked airplanes, terrorists killed over 2000 Americans.

Two planes were crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade center in New York. Another plane hit the

Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

After learning that a terrorist group called al-Qaeda, headed by Osama

bin Laden was responsible, President Bush began a response.

Al-Qaeda had been watched by the U.S. for many years prior to 9/11

because of their support for terrorist attacks.

Al-Qaeda was based mostly in Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan was controlled by a

fundamentalist Muslim government called the Taliban.

The Taliban gave safe shelter to al-Qaeda. The U.S. targeted both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

2001: U.S. planes and cruise missiles hit targets in Afghanistan.2003: NATO peacekeepers arrive in Afghanistan2004: Free elections were held and Hamid Karzai becomes president2005: A national assembly is elected in Afghanistan

Today, the Taliban still has some representation in the

Afghan government, but they no longer rule, and al-Qaeda has been broken up

and severely weakened.

Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda was found and killed in 2011. He was hiding in a home in Pakistan.

The Invasion of Iraq

Following the 9/11 attacks, President Bush spoke to the nation about a need to confront terrorism and evil.

President Bush referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as

an “Axis of Evil”.

Later, her would use this term to refer to any nation he felt was seeking

weapons of mass destruction.

In 2003, after repeated claims that Iraq’s leader Saddam Hussein had been stockpiling illegal weapons (chemical,

for instance), the U.S. invaded Iraq.

Unlike the Gulf War in 1991, the coalition was made of fewer nations.

Although the United Nations had placed sanctions on Iraq,

there was no resolution to use force. The U.S. defied the U.N.

by invading.

Much of the intelligence on Iraq turned out to be false or weak, and

most of the suspected weapons were not found. Hussein was captured

and later executed.

Today, Iraq is in turmoil trying to hold itself together against outside forces.

Many critics of the U.S. led invasion say that the reputation of America was tarnished and that the U.S. should have

not invaded without more international support.

Changes at HomeAfter 9/11

The Office of Homeland Security was created after the 9/11 attacks (but was proposed before). Its charge is to protect the nation

against terrorist attacks, man made accidents and natural disasters.

The USDHS has a budget of around $100B and employs

over 200,000 people.

The USDHS was considered necessary to help coordinate efforts of other U.S. agencies (FBI, NSA, CIA) and so that information would be shared faster.

In response to 9/11, the nation looked for

stronger laws to help prevent terrorism.

The Patriot Act was sponsored and supported by Republicans, although it passed through Congress with support from both sides.

The Patriot Act

The Patriot Act allowed for…

• Nationwide search warrants

• Indefinite detentions of immigrants

• searches of homes and businesses without the knowledge of the owner

• Searches of e-mail and telephone records without court order

While some saw the Patriot Act as a necessary tool to fight terrorists, others saw it as a violation of civil liberties and privacy rights implied by the Constitution. The law has

since been reauthorized with weakened provisions.