A Brave New World

World History from 1990 - 2011

The Rise of China

• Diplomacy – Distance from Soviet Union,

closer ties to U.S.

• Economic Reform– Free market reforms– Opening to international

corporations

• Limits of Reform– Tiananmen Square (1989)

• Key Terms– Deng Xiaoping; Four

Modernizations; Richard Nixon; Free Trade Zone

The Soviet Union in Decline

• Factors– War in Afghanistan– Economic Weakness

• Gorbachev (1980s)– Free Market Reforms– Political Reforms– Nuclear treaties with the

United States

• Key Terms– SALT; glasnost;

perestroika; Chernobyl; Ronald Reagan

Soviet Empire Collapses

• Eastern Europe– “Velvet Revolutions”– Berlin Wall Falls

• Soviet Union– New states in Eastern

Europe and Central Asia (“stans”)

• Significance– End of the Cold War!!!

• Key Terms– Boris Yeltsin; Chechnya;

Vladimir Putin

Spread of Democracy (1990s)

• Africa– South Africa– Nigeria

• Latin America– Brazil– Mexico

• Southeast Asia– Indonesia

• Key Terms– Nelson Mandela; PRI

Old Conflicts Resume (1990s)

• Eastern Europe– Yugoslav Civil War

• Africa– Rwandan Genocide

• South Asia– India vs. Pakistan

• Middle East– Israel vs. Palestine

• Key Terms– Ethnic cleansing; PLO

A New Global Conflict

• Iraq (1991)– First US-Iraq War

(Persian Gulf War)

• War on Terror– September 11th, 2001– Afghanistan (2001)– Iraq (2003)

• Key Terms– Saddam Hussein; Al-

Qaeda; Osama Bin Laden; George W. Bush

Economic Troubles

• Great Recession– US: Housing Bubble,

Market collapse– Europe: Debt Crisis

• Significance– U.S. purchase of

global goods slows, leading to economic downturns in developing countries

Contemporary Issues

Major Issues Impacting the World Today

Environmental

• Resources– Land, Water

• Energy– Fossil Fuels, Clean

Energy

• Climate– Global Warming

• Natural Disasters– Tsunamis, Earthquakes,

Hurricanes

• Key Terms– Kyoto Protocol

Case Study: Global Warming• Climate Change Positions

– Alarmists: Catastrophic changes in the Earth are imminent due to human activities

• Solution: Enact hard caps on carbon emissions immediately, penalized through taxation

– Supporters: Rising global temperatures must be dealt with through direct political action

• Solution: “Cap and trade”

– Skeptics: Global temperatures are rising, but the system is too complex to attribute most or all to human causes

• Solution: Encourage development in 3rd world countries

– Deniers: Global warming is a myth

• Significance– There is no consensus on the severity of the problem, and definitely no

agreement on the solution

Social• Class Divisions

– Health and education gap between urban elites and rural poor

– Issue of urban slums in rapidly industrializes areas

• Gender– Tensions between modernist (feminist) and traditional

(patriarchal) attitudes– Tends to be in direct correlation to wealth

• Demography– “Population bomb”: Rapid growth of 3rd world populations– “Graying” of the West: Low birth rates and rapidly aging

populations in the West

Economic• Wealth Gap

– Gap between industrialized & developing nations– Issue: Migration from poorer to wealthier nations

• Globalization– Multinationals: Western corporations with factories, stores, and offices in

developing nations (Nike, KFC in China, IBM in India) – International financial organizations: IMF, World Bank– Issue: Working conditions of laborers in developing countries

(“sweatshops”)

• Free Trade– Development of free trade communities

• Examples: NAFTA; EU; CAFTA; OAS

– Issue: Export of manufacturing from developed nations

Political

• The New Superpowers– East Asia: China– South Asia: India– Latin America: Brazil

• Similarities– Large populations– Growing export

economies

• Differences– Standards of living– Political systems

Political

• Rise of Democracy?– Africa: Decline in

dictatorship– Middle East: “Arab

Spring” (2011)

• End of Democracy?– Latin America: Hugo

Chavez and Bolivarian Socialism

– Russia: Putin: Return of the autocrats

– China: Command and control capitalism

Technology

• Internet Age– Rise of computing

• Cellular Age– Instant communication

around the globe

• Issue– Are these positive or

negative development?

Religion

• Fundamentalism– Literal fidelity to every word of scriptures– Promotion of traditional social customs

• Modernism (“mainline”)– Reinterpretation of doctrine and scripture in line with modern

values– Promotion of social justice

• Issue– Tension between these forces in religion, especially within

Islam and Christianity and between different religions

Culture

• Globalization– Clothes (Jeans and Nike)– Athletics (Olympics, World

Cup, etc.)– Film (Slumdog Millionaire)– Toys (Video Games,

Pokemon)– Food, etc.

• Issue– Criticism of materialism– Developing world: Tension

between local and Western values (see MTV)

Coach Lerch’s FINAL Final Thoughts

• We are unable to predict the future, and the past provides minimal help in answering the challenges facing the globe in the 21st Century

• However, through the study of world history, we now know where we have been, so we can know how the things and ideas we hold so dear developed and came to play an important role in our lives