Transcript SOL Review Unit Eleven PowerPoint Part II - pams

Unit 11 – Globalization and
Interdependence
Advancements in Technology and the Constance
of Change in Our Brave New World
US Foreign Relations Have Changed
 The Cold War has ended.
 NATO has expanded to include
many of the nations in Central and
Eastern Europe.
 US relations with Russia improved
during the 1990s, but have become
strained again more recently.
 The threat of global terrorism is a
major concern of the United States
today.
The Persian Gulf War, 1990 - 1991
 In the summer of 1990, Iraqi forces invade
Kuwait at the command of Saddam Hussein.
 The US and a coalition of nations set up bases in
Saudi Arabia, and launched an invasion to
liberate the nation.
 Iraq fired hundreds of erratic SCUD missiles into
Saudi Arabia and Israel over the next several
months, and used environmental terrorism –
setting fire to oil wells and attempting to ruin
the water supply of the Saudis by causing oil
spills in the Persian Gulf.
 Eventually, Kuwait was liberated, but Saddam
Hussein, the Iraqi dictator who had caused the
conflict, was allowed to remain in power.
Global Terrorism as a Threat to Peace
Terrorists Attacks increased during the
1990s and into the 21st Century, including:
1993 – First Attack on the World Trade Center
1995 – Oklahoma City Bombing of the Alfred
Murray Federal Building
1996 – Dhahran Bombing
1998 – Attacks on US Embassies in Tanzania
and Kenya
2000 –The Attack on the USS Cole
Seventeen (17) Americans were killed and thirty-nine (39)
more injured when a suicide bomber attacked the USS Cole in
2000. The Cole was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia at the time.
September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001, a group of Al-
Qaeda suicide pilots crashed four
airplanes into the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.
Thousands of Americans died, and the
United States was forced to reconsider it’s
national security plans in order to combat
the threat of global terrorism. Any groups
which harbored terrorists or advocated
terrorism were now enemy combatants in
a global war on Terrorism.
The War in Afghanistan, 2001 - Present
One of the nations which had harbored Al-Qaeda
before the September 11, 2001 attacks was
Afghanistan, which was ruled at the time by an
ultra-conservative Islamic regime known as the
Taliban. The Taliban was removed from power by
American soldiers in 2001, and many of its leaders
were killed or captured. Al-Qaeda was targeted as
well, and weakened by the American military
presence. In 2011, Osama bin Laden, the leader of
Al-Qaeda, was killed by American military
personnel in Pakistan. The US hopes that a new,
more democratic government which respects
individual rights will prevail in Afghanistan.
The Iraq War 2003 - 2012
Although Iraq and its leadership played virtually no
role in the September 11th attacks on the United
States, President George W. Bush and his
administration asserted that Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction and constituted a
danger to US security. The US Armed Forces invaded
Iraq in 2003. No weapons of mass destruction were
found. Saddam Hussein was overthrown and killed.
In Iraq, years of civil war and an insurgency which
targeted American soldiers caused hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi and American lives to be lost. As a
result of the conflict, a murderous dictator – Saddam
Hussein – was removed from power and killed, and a
new democracy has been established in Iraq.
Immigration Patterns
In the past fifty years, immigration
patterns to the United States have
changed dramatically. No longer are
the masses of immigrants arriving in
the United States from Europe. Most
immigrants come from Latin America
(Mexico, Central America, South
America, and the Caribbean) or from
Asia (China, India, and Southeast Asian
nations in particular.)
The Problem of Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration to the United States has
become a major problem and a source of
much political debate in the United States.
On the one hand, Americans rely upon the
cheap labor provided by illegal immigrants –
and US businesses violate the law in order to
hire them by the millions. Yet, the presence of
illegal immigrants causes increases the cost of
public services, health care, and the like. And
of course, allowing illegal immigration
undermines the rule of law…
Global Environment – Clean Air, Clean Water,
and the Threat of Global Warming
Since the 1960s, Americans have been
able to agree on the need to preserve
clean air and clean water – for
ourselves and for future generations.
Under Richard Nixon, the Clean Air Act
(1970)and the Clean Water Act (1972)
were both passed and the
Environmental Protection Agency was
created in order to preserve the
environment.
The Climate Change Debate
Although almost every practicing
scientist who studies the matter agrees
that climate change is real – and
potentially disastrous – there is no
agreement among American
politicians. What exactly causes global
warming may end up being less
important than the change in sea
levels, weather patterns, and
ecosystems (which humans are a part
of) if the scientists are right!
Water and Natural Resources
As the population of the Earth continues
to increase the competition or fresh water
and other natural resources – like the
ones used to produce electricity – is likely
to become a major source of conflict.
Pollution and concerns over sustainability
of resources in an interdependent world
will inevitably lead to conflicts between
nations. Managing our resources so that
they last – and using them wisely – will be
the best policy for the future.
Fossil Fuels and Dependency on Foreign Oil
The United States of America has not
been energy independent since the
1960s. Demand for petroleum
products in order to run our
automobiles and to generate electricity
has required the importation of billions
of barrels of oil – often from nations
like Venezuela or the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Nations (OPEC)
which do not share our values, our
foreign policy goals, or our interests.
Global Pandemics and Medicine
The threat of disease is ever-present and
the possibility of global pandemics is
even more pronounced in an
interdependent world. During the 1980s,
the AIDS epidemic became a major threat
in the United States – and it continues to
be a killer abroad. Whether or not
pharmaceutical companies will be able to
stay one step ahead of mutating viruses
and epidemic disease will determine the
future of the world, as well. And yes,
ZOMBIES ARE COMING FOR YOU!