The End of the Cold War, Desert Storm, and the New World Order Theme: The US emerges as the world’s only superpower

President Reagan During the1980s, Cold War tensions increased as Ronald Reagan pursued a vigorous anti- Soviet policy –Characterized the Soviet Union as “the evil empire” –Dedicated massive amounts of money to military spending to include the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or “Star Wars” Spaced based ABM weapons Reagan delivers his famous “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” speech in 1987

The Soviet Union While the U.S. was spending at levels the USSR was finding difficult to match, the Soviets were having their own internal problems –The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after ten years of a failed war many likened to the U.S. experience in Vietnam –The Soviet economy and those of its Eastern and Central European satellites were in serious trouble –People demanded change! US-supplied weapons to help the Mujahedeen defeat Soviet forces in Afghanistan…later called the Taliban

Gorbachev With economic and political reforms obviously needed, Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev initiated perestroika (the “restructuring” or decentralizing of the economy) and glasnost (an “opening” of the Soviet society to public scrutiny) Gorbachev’s reforms proved difficult to implement and unleashed hostility from the old order it threatened, long suppressed criticism, ethnic and nationalist separatism rose By the summer of 1990, Gorbachev’s reforms had failed people DEMANDED Freedom…the cat was out of the bag!

Collapse of the Soviet Empire Revolutions broke out throughout Eastern Europe as people overthrow communist dictators in places like Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania and countries such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia broke apart The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989 and East and West Germany united in 1990 The 1989 Romanian Revolution was a violent overthrow of the communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu

Collapse of the Soviet Empire Beginning in August 1991, Soviet Republics began declaring their independence from the USSR; Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, etc. Also in August, a group of conspirators representing dissatisfied elements of the Communist Party, the KGB, and the military attempted a Coup in Moscow, when it failed…Democracy was now demanded by the Russians By the end of 1991, the USSR had ceased to exist replaced with the Russian Federation and 15 independent countries Boris Yelstin, first elected President, atop an armored personnel carrier encouraging resistance to the coup

End of the Bipolar World The demise of the Soviet Union left the U.S. as the world’s sole superpower…”A New world Order” is born. Without the danger of a superpower confrontation, the U.S. was now more free to use its power throughout the world Additionally, new opportunities for cooperative international efforts would become possible without the bipolar competition This new dynamic would be tested when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Desert Storm: The First Gulf War, Theme: The end of the Vietnam Syndrome, the start of the War of Terror

The Gulf Wars

Background Majority of the Middle east was administered (Mandates left from WWI) by Britain and France until post-World War II. Long-standing disputes between countries like, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. On Aug 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait after Kuwait refuses to forgive Iraqi war debt from the Iran-Iraq War President George H.W. Bush tells the world “this naked aggression will not Stand” begins forming a coalition…

Coalition Operations The end of the Cold War and Russia’s willingness to join the U.S. in opposing Iraq created an unprecedented level of international cooperation The United Nations adopted resolutions condemning Iraq and authorizing the use of force Thirty-six countries contributed forces to the Gulf War, The Coalition that goes to war in Operation Desert Storm (The first Iraq War).

“Highway of Death”

Iraq The objective of Desert Storm was to liberate Kuwait, not to destroy the Iraqi army or remove Saddam Even though the coalition experienced amazing military success, Saddam remained in power and crushed short-lived uprisings by the Kurds in the north and the Shia in the south Iraqi would be invaded, 2003 by the United States in a failed effort to find WMD’s: the Second Gulf War. resulting in the removal of Saddam Hussein and a 10 year occupation, Plus the rise of militants and terrorist groups like ISIS.

The New World Order Theme: International cooperation and military intervention in the post-Cold War era

“New World Order” “We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a new world order -- can emerge: a new era -- freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony.…

“New World Order” ….A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor. Today that new world is struggling to be born, a world quite different from the one we’ve known. A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak.” –President George H. W. Bush Sept 11, 1990

Post-Cold War Environment Cold War threats were potentially catastrophic but they were also measurable and somewhat predictable The bipolar structure and the desire to avoid superpower confrontation had provided a certain degree of order and stability The post Cold War period was much more ambiguous and uncertain and many new threats emerged…Al Qaeda is on the horizon and Osama Bin Laden begins to plot CIA Director James Woolsey described the post-Cold War environment by saying, “We have slain a large dragon (the U.S.S.R.) — but we now live in a jungle filled with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. In many ways, the dragon was easier to keep track of.”