Chapter 30: The End of the Cold War and New Global Challenges, 1970 to the Present

There was a relaxation in the tensions and cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union * U.S. and Soviet Union relationships were improved in 1970, lessening possibility of Nuclear War
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1972) was responsible for limiting defensive missile systems
There was increasing conflict in the Soviet Bloc in the mid-1980s
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power as General Secretary in 1985 * Tried to reform the Soviet Union system * Wanted to limit private enterprise, limit the open markets, and lessen the restrictions placed upon foreign trade
The Nuclear Arms Race was too expensive for the Soviet Union to continue participating in
By 1989, the Soviet Union held its first free election since 1917 * 1990: Gorbachev elected as the Soviet Union’s first president
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was taken down * The Fall of the Berlin Wall allowed for German unification
The Soviet Union was slowly falling apart from within * Started before Gorbachev came into power and continued on after * Economic and social decline * Weakening of the Communist Party’s control over the citizens of the Soviet Union * Growth of an urbanized and better educated population * Foreign influences from other nations
Countless ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union wanted self-determination and political independence
The Soviet Union Collapse * From 1989 to 1991, all 15 of the Soviet Republics declared their independence * Warsaw Pact ended (1991) * 11 of the former Soviet Republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States * Gorbachev resigned * Boris Yeltsin became president of the Russian Federation
European Union (EU) * Formed in 1997 * Began with 12 member nations * Had 27 member nations by 2007 * Had a plan for European unity * Had a central banking system, with Euros replacing national currency of the majority of the member nations
The history of contemporary terrorism began after WWII in 1948 * Started with conflict between Palestinians over the formation of Israel from a portion of Palestine * Palestinian Muslims refused to recognize Israel
Terrorist activity in the U.S. increased after the U.S. took action against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War in 1991 * 1993: a bomb in the garage of the World Trade Center killed six people and wounded around a thousand * 1995/1996: two terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia killed 24 Americans * 1998: there were two assaults on two American embassies in Africa, killing 224 people * These attacks on the U.S. attributed to Osama bin Laden
On September 11, 2001, 4 airplanes were hijacked and used as flying bombs * A plane crashed into the Pennsylvania, 1 flew into the Pentagon, 2 flew into the World Trade Center * 9/11 was connected to a international terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda, which was founded and led by Osama bin Laden * Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011
Iraq War (2003-2011) * The Bush administration was focused on Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq * Hussein was suspected of developing weapons of mass destruction and supporting Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization * Iraq’s government was overthrown and Hussein was captured * Iraq had issues forming a united country due to differences between the three major groups in Iraqi society * Bush increased the number of American troops in Iraq in 2007 * Thousands of American and Iraqi troops were killed in the Iraq War * In December of 2011, U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq