History - Cold War: Flashpoints

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Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

The President of Afghanistan, Taraki, allied with the USSR, but was later killed by Amin, who became president
Soviet troops killed Amin: Karmal was chosen to replace him
After this, Soviet troops fought the Mujahideen (Afghan rebel group) for 10 years.

Carter Doctrine

The US embassy in Iran was attacked, and Carter was worried they would be influenced by the USSR
Carter broke off relations with the USSR in 1980, stopped trade agreements and supported sanctions against the USSR
The USA also formed partnerships with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

Olympic Boycotts

Improving Leadership Relations

Gorbachev saw that capitalist countries were much richer, so Reagan, Thatcher and Gorbachev worked together

Gorbachev’s reforms

Perestroika - restructuring: people weren’t happy, wages were low and he wanted to end the war
•Glasnost - openness: he wanted people to have freedom

‘Second Cold War’

•SDI was developed to shoot down ICBMs and other weapons, but this violated the Outer Space Treaty
•This was very expensive, so the USSR wouldn’t be able to catch up