1. Objective: To examine the events leading to the end of the Cold War.

2. Recognizing China
· Pres. Nixon attempted to improve U.S. ties with China by visiting China in 1972.

3. February 21, 1972; During his visit, President Richard Nixon meets with Chairman Mao Zedong. Concerning Taiwan, the U.S. side affirms the "One China Principle". The U.S. reaffirms their interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question.

4. · Pres. Carter established official diplomatic ties with China in 1979.
On January 29, 1979, Vice- Premier Deng Xiaoping and President Carter had a chat before their talks.

5. A Brief Thaw in the Cold War
Détente:
· In 1972, Pres. Nixon became the first President to visit the Soviet Union since the Cold War began.
President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, 1972

6. · Nixon was practicing the policy of détente, or the easing of tensions.

7. · The U.S. and the Soviet Union soon signed the SALT Agreement, which limited the number of nuclear missiles that they produced.
· The relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union continued to improve.

8. Examples of improved U.S. – Soviet relations:
- Trade between the U.S. and the Soviet Union increased.
- In 1975, U.S. and Soviet astronauts conducted a joint space mission.
Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Donald K. Slayton hold containers of Soviet space food in the Soviet Soyuz Module

9. - In 1979, Pres. Carter worked out the details of the SALT II Treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

10. · In December of 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Détente ends:
· In December of 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
The mujahideen (Islamic guerillas),who fought against the Soviet military occupation of Afghanistan during the Afghan-Soviet War ( ), stand on top of a Soviet helicopter. They used guerrilla-war tactics to ambush Soviet troops.

11. Osama Bin Laden, in Afghanistan during the 1980’s (top), and in October of 2001 (right).

12. · Pres. Carter withdrew U. S
· Pres. Carter withdrew U.S. support for the SALT II Treaty, ended all grain sales to the Soviet Union, and led an international boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

13. An End to the Cold War
· Pres. Reagan increased military spending and pursued a weapons program, known as Star Wars, that could shoot down missiles from space.

14. · Star Wars helped to destroy the economy of the Soviet Union, as they were unable to match the U.S. spending on the military and provide for their citizens at the same time.

15. · Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed an arms control treaty, called the INF Treaty, with Pres. Reagan in 1987.

16. Mikhail Gorbachev, Time magazine’s 1988 Man of the Year and 1990 Man of the Decade.

17. · Eventually, however, Gorbachev was forced to resign in 1991, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
· As a result, fifteen Soviet republics gained their independence.
Post-Soviet states in alphabetical order: 1. Armenia; 2. Azerbaijan; 3. Belarus; 4. Estonia; 5. Georgia; 6. Kazakhstan; 7. Kyrgyzstan; 8. Latvia; 9. Lithuania; 10. Moldova; 11. Russia; 12. Tajikistan; 13. Turkmenistan; 14. Ukraine; 15. Uzbekistan

18. The Fall of the Berlin Wall – News Report from ABC News (2:55)