1. The paths to power USA (1991 to 2001)
THE USA emerges as a single power : The watchdog of the World

2. The end of the Soviet Union and the Gulf War (1990-1991)
- December 1991: Soviet Union disintegrates with the resignation of Gorbachev on 25th December 1991 : .rise of nationalism, . high cost of arms race . war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, . reforms introduced by Gorbachev failed: Perestroika (economic reform) and Glasnost (political transparency) . social conditions

3. The Gulf War Crisis, the first after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc August 1990 to February 1991

4. Causes of the invasion of KUWAIT
2nd August 1990 : Iraq invaded Kuwait. Why?
- Irak accused Kuwait of lowering oil prices
and of exceeding quotas
- Iraq was in a financial crisis after its conflict with Iran (1980 to 1988) and asked Kuwait to cancel its debt
- Iraq argued that Kowait was natural part of Iraq which had been wrongly carved out by GB in 19th century

5. Reactions
Saddam underestimated the international reaction his invasion would invoke, anticipating it would be viewed as strictly an Arab matter. However, the oil-rich region proved to be too critical to western interests
UN imposed economic sanctions (lifted only in 2003 : terrible consequences for the country and population)
Immediate reaction from the USA: US troops deployed into Saudi Arabia on August 5th (Operation Desert Shield) to protect large oil fields

6. Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm
January 1991:
A coalition force formed with 34 countries, with the USA in the lead (600,000 troops, 72% of the coalition force)
17th January: beginning of the Desert Storm operations (missile attacks on Bagdad and ground operation)
Retaliation by Iraq with missiles on Israël

7. OUTCOME
February 1991: the coalition technology won over soviet equiped Iraqi army which was pushed back across the border. No move to capture Bagdad or overthrow the Hussein Government.
About 190 deaths in coalition force, Iraq 20,000 to 200,000 deaths
Economic sanctions and presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia are thought to have contributed to give an increasing negative image of the US in the Arab world
It gave G. Bush the opportunity to prove the power of his country and give it the name of the defender of rights as « watchdog » of the world.
The USA put an embargo on Iraq and the country had to destroy its chemical weapons under the watchful eye of the UN.

8. The 1990s decade: new tensions, conflicts The US intervenes…
The 1990s decade: new tensions, conflicts The US intervenes….multilateralism
. Yugoslavia in : US intervenes as part of the NATO implementation force. . Somalia (1992) USA participated in a UN peacekeeping mission. Clinton withdrew US troops after the Battle of Mogadishu and public disapproval. The USA refused as a result to take a role in the . Rwanda genocide (April-May 1994) . Clinton later publicly expressed regret. . Haiti ( ) US operation with its allies to overthrow the military regime( authorized by the UN) 20,000 US troops later sent to restore the President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

9. The world order: from a unipolar to a multipolar world
Persistent Israel-Palestine conflict
Africa: End of Apartheid in 1992 in SA, political instability in Ethiopia, Sudan, Zaire, Rwanda
Creation of the European Union in 1992 with the MaastrichTreaty
The emergence of islamism

10. New threats to the New World Order The emergence of Islamism on the International Scene
 Islam is a religion
Islamism is a complex phenomenon and is a political doctrine, an ideology.

11. Islamist groups
Iran since 1979 Islamic Republic. US hostages held in Embassy (refusal to hand over the Shah)
AIG (Algeria Armed Islamic Group early 1992
1993 campaigns agains foreigners living in Algeria.
. Jama’s Islamia in Egypt
1993 : attack on the World Trade Centre
foreign tourists killed at Egypt temple attack in Louxor

12. 1980s :Hezbollah based in Lebanon emerged i as followers of Khomeini calling for the destruction on Israël
1996 – 2001 Taliban regime came to power in Afghanistan

13. Al Qaeda
Created after the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan (1989)
Aim: end of foreign influence in muslim countries and create a new Islamic Caliphate
Label: terrorist organization by US
1998: name appears 2 weeks after the bombings of US embassies in Africa, bringing O. Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to international attention for the first time.

14. The destructive power of international Islamist networks like Al Qaeda
Two nearly simultaneous massive bombs leveled the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
American officials quickly pointed to a then little-known Saudi terrorist named Osama bin Laden. President Bill Clinton vowed to hunt down bin Laden, who was added to the FBI's most wanted list in connection with the bombings.

15. Response by President Clinton
The most dramatic attempt to kill bin Laden occurred in August 1998, when Clinton ordered a Tomahawk cruise missile attack on bin Laden’s suspected training camps in Afghanistan

16. FATWA (« opinion », religious ruling)
1998 Fatwa issued by Osama bin Laden to the Americans for 3 reasons:
Occupation of the Arabian peninsula during the Gulf War, the holiest of places
Aggression against the Iraqi people
US support of Israël

17. Al Qaeda responsible for US Navy destroyer bombing - 2000
 On October 12, 2000, the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole was attacked by a small boat laden with explosives in the harbor of Aden, Yemen. The suicide terrorist attack killed 17 members of the ship’s crew, wounded 39 others, and seriously damaged the ship.

18. On the eve of 9/11….