1. Modern World and Western Europe Ch 21 PowerPoint Notes

2. Great Britain In ’79 Margaret Thatcher (conservative) came to power –Pledged to: Limit social welfare Restrict union power End inflation –Not entirely successful Improved British economy –South of England prospered while old industrial areas faced high unemployment, poverty, and violence Dominated until 1990 when government tried to replace local property taxes with flat-rate tax –Led to anti-tax riots –Thatcher resigned as her popularity fell

3. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown 1997 the Labour Party won and Tony Blair (moderate) became prime minister –Blair stepped down from his position (to the right) –Gordon Brown became prime minister in 2007 (pictured below)

4. Terrorism 2 types –Militant Terrorists: want to create or expand own state/territory IRA who want to unite Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic –State-Sponsored: openly supports terrorism against another Governments in Iraq, Syria, and North Korea Some states secretly support this type of terrorism by financing them or letting terrorists hide within their boundaries

5. September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center towers in NYC, the Pentagon in DC, and a 4 th plane crashed in PA believed to be headed to DC Osama bin Laden was responsible –Followers are fundamentalist militant Muslims –Want to est a pure Islamic society –Believe that Western influence threatens their goal and want to drive foreigners from the Middle East and other Islamic societies

6. Never Forget

7. War on Terrorism Bin Laden used his fortune to train terrorists in Afghanistan, where the Taliban were in power President George W. Bush launched war on terrorism in October 2001 –Led coalition of nations against Taliban in Afghanistan –By Nov 2001 the UN sponsored talks to decide on a new government for Afghanistan

8. Iraq Bush administration focused on dangers of weapons of mass destruction –Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that kill MANY at once In early 90’s UN Security Council told Iraq to disarm such weapons –Iraq repeatedly violated these resolutions Sep 12, 2002 Bush asked UN to pass resolution against Iraq which would force UN inspectors back in

9. Nov 8: UN passed resolution to send inspectors March 2003 the US and coalition of nations declared Iraq was not meeting UN’s terms March 20, 2003 war began Within a month, Baghdad had fallen to US forces –Many Iraqis were happy at first but this changed when US and British forces did not leave

10. US and British forces have helped set up interim government in Iraq –Difficult because of many groups there Dec 2003 Saddam Hussein was captured Hussein tried in Iraq for crimes against people he ruled –Found guilty –Dec 30, 2006 hanged for his sentence Guerrillas continue to attack American forces and Iraqis who support change

11. European Union Combination of European economies into a common economy with one currency –Currency = Euro