End of the cold War

1. End of the cold War Nixon to the Present. . . ish

2. Nixon and Carter • Nixon helps put an end to the War in Vietnam and Improves relations with China in ‘72 • Watergate Scandal- sets up microphones to listen in on Democratic meetings and then caught lying about it. • Resigns from office in ‘74 • Jimmy Carter: Peanut farmer interested in helping but interest rates shoot up and can’t seem to help the economy. Stagflation (high interest rates and high unemployment) hurts the economy • Economic problems caused by OPEC price spike in oil in ‘73

3. Ronald Reagan • Ronald Reagan • Republican wins in 1981 • Reduces welfare spending • Peacetime military buildup • Supply Side Economics • Good for the short run but triples national debt from 81-87

4. Regan in the cold war • 1987 goes to Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and tells Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall and end this Cold War. • Clip • Late 1989 the wall is torn down in pieces by the people • This was symbolic of the end of the Cold War and a new connection of the West and the East

5. Mikhail Gorbachev • Told his wife “we cannot go on living like this” • Began to reform the Soviet Union • Perestroika= Restructuring of economy, political, social • Glasnost= Openness. People could discuss the problems they saw In the USSR and try to fix them • By 1990 he legalized the creations of different political parties • Ethnic groups complain and break off • Dec. 25, 1991 Gorbachev resigned and USSR broke up

6. Problems from the middle East • British were in favor of reducing Jewish immigration to Palestine but Zionists want a home • After WWII and news of the Holocaust America sympathizes with the Zionists and form Israel • May 14, 1948 Israel formed

7. Islamic groups • Shiites: Fundamentalist group of Islam where people believed that after the death of Muhammad a family member should take over as prophet • Sunni: majority of Muslims today they believed that after the death of Muhammad they should elect a Caliph to rule • Felt that they holy land was also centered in places like Jerusalem which led to conflict with Jews and Christians

8. The Iran contra scandal • 1983 terrorist groups in Iran took American hostages in Lebanon • 1985 Regan tells our allies not to sell Iran any weapons but then was shocked to find out we sold them some in 1986 in an effort to free the hostages • Iran and Iraq had fought for a long time in the ‘80’s so Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein claimed Kuwait was really part of his country so invades

9. Persian gulf war • Iraqi soldiers overthrew the country of Kuwait in 1990 • Soviet Forces tried to persuade the Iraqi soldiers to withdraw • From ‘90-’91 the US came and destroyed the Iraqi forces to liberate Kuwait • Desert Storm only 400 US soldiers die in the conflict which seems great compared to the 54k in Vietnam

10. 9/11/01 • Four groups of hijackers took commercial planes and crashed them into the twin towers, pentagon, and Pennsylvania • Attack led by Fundamentalist group known as Al-Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden • They used the Afghanistan fundamentalist group known as the Taliban • President George W. Bush declared war on “Terror”

11. Iraqi War • 2002 George Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, gave funding to Al-Qaeda • Bush claims that they were developing weapons of mass destruction • Invasion of Iraq defeats military quickly but causes anti-American sentiment in Middle East

12. Still in conflict today • For the last several decades we have been involved with this conflict. • When should it end? • Why are we actually there? • Do you think we should remain involved?

13. Civil Rights Movement • Martin Luther King Jr. • Led peaceful protests after the example of Gandhi • Sought social equality for African Americans • Assassinated at a motel • Malcolm X • Led a more violent faction of civil rights protestors • Claimed that we will try to be peaceful but “if someone lays a hand on you send him to the cemetery” • Assassinated at a meeting by several gunman