1. Ch. 20 REGIONAL CONFLICTS 1945-Present

2. Conflicts Divide Nations  In the decades since World War II there have been many conflicts based on Ethnic and or Religious differences.  Some nations with ethnic diversity, like Malaysia and Singapore have avoided conflict by distributing power among diverse groups.  In Sri Lanka the Sinhalese Buddhists excluded the Hindu Tamils from power, which led to a rebellion by the Tamils, who would not agree to a cease fire until 2002 when the Sri Lanka government agreed to negotiations for a separate Tamil regional government.

3. Malaysia & Singapore

4. Canada  The French Speaking people in Quebec felt they were mistreated by the English speaking majority in Canada.  French speaking people were able to get support for their language and culture through democratic means.

5. Canada

6. Ireland & Northern Ireland  Ireland won independence from Great Britain in 1922.  The Protestant majority in the six northern counties voted to remain part of Britain.  The Catholics in Northern Ireland wanted to unite with the rest of Ireland where Catholics were the majority.  Catholics faced economic and political discrimination in Northern Ireland.

7. Ireland

8. Northern Ireland continued  The Irish Republican Army attacked Protestants in Northern Ireland and engaged in terrorism against the British.  Protestant militia attacked Catholics in Northern Ireland.  Protestants and Catholics in Ireland signed a peace accord called the “Good Friday Agreement,” in 1998.  Even after the “Good Friday Agreement” there were still episodes of violence in Northern Ireland.

9. Chechnya  Ethnic and religious minorities in several former Soviet republics fought for independence from the republics majority.  Muslim Chechen nationalists fought for independence from Russia.  In the mid-1990s Russia brutally crushed a Chechen revolt.  A 1997 peace treaty failed, and embittered Chechen separatists took their battle into other parts of Russia.

10. Chechnya

11. Chechnya continued  In 1999 when new fighting erupted Russian troops won control of Grozny the capital of Chechnya.  When some Chechens turned to terrorist attacks elsewhere in Russia, Russians claimed the Chechens were linked to Muslim terrorists in other parts of the world.

12. Yugoslavia

13. Yugoslavia Breaks Apart  In the 1990s Yugoslavia was torn apart by ethnic, nationalist, & religious tensions.  Prior to 1991 Yugoslavia was held together by the Communist party dominated by Serbia.  Serbs were the majority in Serbia but were minorities in the other Yugoslav republics.  Serbians tried in vane to control Yugoslavia after the fall of communism.  The end of communism stirred up nationalism in the small states made that made up Yugoslavia.

14. Yugoslavian breakup continued  After Croatia and Slovenia declared independence in 1991 fighting broke out in Croatia between Croats and Serbs.  By 1992 Macedonia & Bosnia had declared independence from Yugoslavia.  In 2003 Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro.  When Bosnia declared independence the Bosnia Serbs fought to set up their own government in Bosnia.  Bosnian Serbs received money & arms from Serbs in Yugoslavia.

15. Bosnia continued  Muslim Bosniaks fought the Serbs in Bosnia.  Bosnian Serbs engaged in vicious attacks against the Bosniaks called ethnic cleansing.  Ethnic cleansing were attempts to kill or remove other ethnics to create ethnically “pure” areas.

16. Bosnia continued  Croats attempted ethnic cleansing against Serbs in Croatia.  Ethnic cleansing sometimes resulted in mass executions.  NATO air strikes forced the Bosnian Serbs and other warring parties to negotiate.  The Dayton Accords ended the war in Bosnia in 1995.

17. Kosovo  Was a Serbian province that was 90% Albanian.  In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic the Yugoslavian/Serbian President began oppressing the Kosovar Albanians.  After peaceful protests led to greater repression Albanian guerrillas from Kosovo began in the mid-1990s to attack Serbian targets.  In Kosovo the Yugoslavian/Serbian military attempted ethnic cleansing against the Albanians.

18. Kosovo continued  In 1999, NATO launched strikes against Serbia.  NATO air strikes forced Yugoslavia to withdraw its forces from Kosovo.  U.N. & NATO forces restored peace in Kosovo.  Although Kosovo remained apart of Serbia in theory after 1999 it was under the control of the U.N.  Kosovo declared its independence in February of 2008.  Some countries like the U.S. have recognized Kosovo’s independence others still deny it.

19. Kosovo Map

20. Slides on South Africa needed

21. Rwanda  In Rwanda the civil war between the Hutus and the Tutsis is one of Africa’s bloodiest.  Hutus were the majority group in Rwanda but the minority Tutsis had long dominated Rwanda.  Even though Rwanda was part of a Belgium colony it had a Tutsi king until he was ousted in 1959 by a Hutu uprising.  120,000 Tutsis fled to Burundi. The Hutu’s set up a republican regime.  In 1962 Belgium granted full independence.

22. Rwanda continued  A 1973 coup established a Hutu- dominated military government.  In 1993 the Hutu president signed an accord granting Tutsis virtual equality in the government.  In 1994 when a plane carrying the Hutu presidents of Rwanda & Burundi was shot down, Hutu extremists urged civilians to kill their Tutsi & moderate Hutu neighbors.

23. Rwanda part III  In the 1994 Massacre in Rwanda about 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed (as much as 20% of the population of Rwanda)  Tutsi Rebel forces seized control of the capital and established a primarily Tutsi government with a moderate Hutu President.  About 1 million Hutus fearful of revenge became refugees in Zaire & Tanzania.  In 1996 the Hutu refugees were forced to return home by Tutsi backed rebels.  Those responsible for the 1994 massacre were forced to face war crimes trials under U.N. auspices.

24. Sudan  Northeastern country in Africa that has an Arab Muslim north dominating a non-Muslim, non-Arab south.  The Arab-led government enacted laws that discriminated against non-Muslims and against other ethnic groups.  The government tried to impose Islamic law in non-Muslim areas.  Rebel groups in the south battled northern domination.

25. Sudan continued  War, drought, and famine caused millions of deaths and forced many more to flee their homes.  In 2004, southern rebels signed a peace agreement with Sudan’s government. The Southern rebels agreed to stop fighting and the government agreed to give the south limited self government, power in Sudan’s national government, and freedom from Islamic law.

26. Darfur  Sudan’s western region.  Arab militias, backed by the government, unleashed terror on the non-Arab Muslim people of Darfur.  The militia burned villages and drove hundreds of thousands of farmers off the land that fed them to refugee camps, where they faced the threat of starvation.  The U.N., the U.S. and other nations organized aid efforts to help refugees.

27. Arab Israeli conflict  Modern Israel was established in 1948 in accordance with the United Nations petition plan.  Palestinian Arabs regarded the U.N. action as illegitimate and rejected the state offered to them.  Conflicting claims to the land inhabited by the state of Israel has resulted in five wars and almost constant conflict.  Israel has been victorious and has either maintained or increased its possessions in these wars.

28. Occupied Territories  In the 1967 (Six Day) war Israeli forces took control of the Golan Heights from Syria, East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.  These territories are now known as the occupied territories.  Israeli settlements, helped by Israel’s government, in the occupied territories is a source of great bitterness to Palestinians.

29. Palestinian Liberation Organization  By the 1960s, the PLO, led by Yasir Arafat, was leading the struggle against Israel.  The PLO called for the destruction of Israel.  The PLO used terrorist attacks against Israel both at home and abroad.  Palestinians also opposed Israel in the occupied territories by mounting intifadas or uprisings.  The Israelis responded to the intifadas and terrorist attacks with force, killing many Palestinians.

30. Efforts for Peace  The U.S., the UN, and others did push for peace and made some progress.  Golda Meir, Israel’s prime minister was trying to arrange a negotiated peace when Arabs nations attacked Israel in the 1973 war.  In 1979 Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Agreement.  Israel returned the Sinai peninsula to Egypt and Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

31. More efforts at peace  In 1994, Jordan’s King Hussein made peace with Israel.  In 1993 Israel and the PLO began direct talks.  These talks resulted in Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin & PLO leader Yasir Arafat signing the Oslo Accord.  The Oslo Accord outlined a plan to give Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank limited self-rule under a Palestinian Authority. In return the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist, and the Palestinian Authority pledged to stop terrorism against Israel.  Arafat assumed leadership of the Palestinian Authority.

32. Oslo Accord

33. Setbacks to Peace  Years of talks have brought few results.  In 2000 radical Palestinian groups such as Hamas have stepped up terrorist attacks, vowing to destroy Israel. Hamas opposes the peace process.  Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanded Arafat’s removal as head of the Palestinian Authority for failing to prevent the attacks.  Palestinian suicide bombers and Israeli reprisals in the occupied territories brought fear and bitterness.

34. Obstacles to Peace  LAND Many Palestinians want the right to settle anywhere in Israel, under a “Right of Return.” Israelis oppose this policy because it would undermine the Jewish state.  ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS in the occupied territories. Settlers want to stay Palestinians want them to leave.  JERUSALEM Israel has declared East Jerusalem to be apart of Israel. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

35. New steps toward peace.  During the early 2000s, new steps offered some hope of peace.  The U.S. devised a new plan, the “road map” to peace. It called for two states a Jewish state and a Palestinian state to exist side by side.  In 2004 Ariel Sharon launched a plan to withdraw Israeli settlements from Gaza.  Some Israelis thought the plan gave away too much and many Palestinians weren’t satisfied as they wanted settlements removed from the West Bank as well.

36. Further progress toward peace_  Followed the death of Yasir Arafat, in 2004,whom the Israelis distrusted.  Yasir Arafat’s democratically elected successor Mahmoud Abbas, pledged to stop Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israel.  Israel responded by releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.  In 2006 Hamas, which still rejects Israel’s right to exist won elections and came to control of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

37. Civil War in Lebanon  The Arab Israeli conflict spilled over into Lebanon in the 1970s.  When Lebanon attained independence the the Arab Christians were the largest and strongest group.  As Palestinians fled to Lebanon from regions that became Israel Muslims became the majority in Lebanon.  Muslim Lebanese demanded a greater share of power.

38. Civil War in Lebanon continued  In 1975, religious tensions plunged Lebanon into a civil war. Christian and Muslim militia battled each other.  In 1982, Israel invaded southern Lebanon to stop cross-border attacks, and Syria occupied eastern Lebanon to secure its borders.  In 1990 the Lebanon civil war ended. Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon in 2000 and Syria in 2005.  Lebanon’s fate seemed tied to the prospects for peace among its neighbors.

39. Iraq  Iraq has a long history of internal and external conflicts due to its oil wealth and ethnic diversity.  During the Cold War the U.S. & the Soviet Union competed for influence over Iraq.  After WWII Iraq’s monarchy had close ties to the U.S.  After the monarchy was overthrown in 1958, Iraq’s rulers developed closer ties to the Soviet Union.  For centuries, Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority had dominated the country.

40. Iraq continued  The Kurdish minority and Shiite Arab majority had little power.  During the 1970s, Kurds took up arms to fight for power over their homeland in northern Iraq. Iraq brutally suppressed the rebellion.

41. Iran-Iraq War  In 1979 Saddam Hussein seized power in Iraq and ruled as a dictator.  In 1980, after the Islamic revolution is Iran, Saddam tried to take advantage of the turmoil by seizing a disputed border region. His action triggered a prolonged war.  Because Iran was bitterly opposed to the U.S. Iraq was able to gain U.S. support.  The war lasted until 1988 and drained both Iran & Iraq.  During the war, Saddam Hussein unleashed chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians.

42. Iraq defeated in Gulf War  In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait to control its oil fields and gain greater access to the Persian gulf.  The U.S. consider Saddam’s move illegal and a threat to the oil resources in the Persian Gulf region.  George H.W. Bush formed a coalition of Western and Middle Eastern nations, which under the UN banner quickly liberated Kuwait in 1991.  Despite defeat Saddam Hussein remained in power. He brutally crushed the majority Shiite Muslims in the south and the minority Kurds in the north.

43. Hussein defies restrictions  To protect the Kurds, and Shiites the U.S., France, and Britain set up no-fly zones, where Iraqis were forbidden to fly.  In an effort to prevent Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction the UN imposed economic sanctions on Iraq limiting how much oil it could sell and how it could spend its money.  Iraq repeatedly violated the no-fly zones and failed to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors sent to find WMDs.

44. U.S. Forces defeat Hussein  In 2002, the U.S. and Britain charged Hussein still had WMDs.  President George W. Bush accused Hussein of supporting terrorists.  The U.S. and Britain joined together in a coalition to invade Iraq.  Coalition forces toppled Hussein and occupied the country in 2003 Iraq War.  Many Iraqis welcomed the end of Hussein’s regime. Others resented foreign occupation.

45. Rebuilding Iraq  Efforts to rebuild Iraq were hampered by guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings.  Insurgents targeted foreigners and Iraqi citizens, especially those cooperating with foreign troops.  In 2005, national elections were held.  For the first time in Iraq’s history the Shiite majority won control of the government.  Iraq’s new government faced attacks from insurgents especially from the Sunnis bitter about losing power.  Iraq ethnic diversity has made rebuilding the country difficult.