The Contemporary Era, 1973 to the Present

1. The Contemporary Era, 1973 to the Present The West CHAPTER 29

2. Economic Crisis and Its Consequences in the West • Stagflation - a combination of high inflation and high unemployment, fueled by high oil prices, deregulation of the world economy, and international competition • Resurgence of industrial and racial conflict • Emergence of “New Conservatism” ended consensus politics • New political culture that tolerated lower economic growth and higher unemployment

3. From Detente to Renewed Cold War, 1975-1985 • Rising concern, in the West, about Soviet violations of human rights • The arms race accelerated again • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 1979, ended the era of detente • New Conservative leaders, like Reagan and Thatcher, revived anticommunist rhetoric and attitudes

4. New Challenges and New Identities in the West • “New feminism” connected New Left analyses of political subordination with sexual repression • Feminist critique focused on the female body and female stereotypes • Emergence of radical environmentalism that challenged the fundamental structure of industrial economies

5. The Crisis of Legitimacy in the East • Soviet economy was too rigid and overcentralized and, by the 1980s, faced economic crisis • Economic hardship across Eastern Europe fostered desire for radical political change • Environmental activism, in the Soviet Union, fueled nationalist protest and weakened the communist structure

6. Gorbachev and Radical Reform • Gorbachev came to power convinced that the Soviet system required radical reforms • Glasnost - abandoned state censorship and deception • Perestroika - economic modernization and decentralization • The success of economic perestroika depended upon political reforms

7. A New International Order • Gorbachev concluded that the Soviet Union could no longer afford the Cold War and its empire in Eastern Europe • Resumption of arms control and reduction of Soviet military commitments • Collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe, 1989-1990 • Reunification of Germany

8. The Disintegration of the Soviet Union • Gorbachev hoped his reforms would preserve the communist system • Gorbachev faced opposition from communist hard-liners and liberal reformers • Gorbachev survived an attempted coup, but could not prevent nationalist movements’ breaking apart the Soviet Union

9. The Return of History in Russia and Eastern Europe • Sudden introduction of capitalism in Russia led to economic collapse and emergence of criminal syndicates • Economic and political instability across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics fostered nationalism, anti-Semitism and racial violence • By the late 1990s, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Baltic states were emerging successfully from the transition to capitalism and political pluralism

10. The Breakup of Yugoslavia • Under economic pressure, the Yugoslav federal system collapsed • End of communism removed the unifying ideology of Yugoslavia • Ethnic nationalism boiled over into civil war and state-sanctioned mass murder • First ever combat action by NATO was taken to end this cycle of violence

11. Old and New Enemies • Identification of Islamic terrorism as the antithesis and enemy of the West • Fueled by continued Arab-Israeli conflict, emergence of militant, anti-Western form of Islam and the oil crisis • 9/11 attacks on the US reinforced a simplistic identification of a Western “Us” in conflict with an Islamic “Them” and accelerated US military expansion

12. The European Union • Development of the EEC into the European Union, promoting greater political, economic and cultural unity • European identity promoted market capitalism and democracy • Split within Europe over the Second Gulf War inhibited greater unity on military and foreign policy

13. Culture and Society in the Postmodern Era • Postmodernist thought emphasized the abandonment of universal truths and meanings, and challenged traditional authorities and structures • Developments in popular culture, information and medical technologies appeared to reflect postmodern ideas • Christianity declined as a common cultural bond in the West

14. The Global Challenge • Acceleration of the globalization of economic production • Increasing importance of financial markets, the IMF and the World Bank, in determining national economies • Widening gap between the “North” and the “South” • Increased concern over environmental damage • New divisions between Europe and the US

15. Where is the West Now? • The globalization of Western culture and ideas may mean the “West” is no longer defined by a significant conceptual border • Fundamental differences remain between the “West” and the “East” • The most significant divide in the world now separates the “North” from the “South”