Transcript A Brave New World

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; AlQaeda; 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