Unit 9: 1980 - Present

9.1: Rise of Conservatism and the End of the Cold War

Nixon

  • 1972: Nixon establishes ties with China (changed the balance of power with the USSR)

  • Détente: Easing of Cold War tensions

  • Watergate: Scandal that led to his resignation

  • Takeaway (Nixon resignation): He mentions watergate and plans his resignation of that coming out, but also on Congress by saying that they won’t support him, so he cant make decisions

USSR invaded Afghanistan (1979)

  • Mujahideen (Muslim guerrilla fighters) resisted

  • CIA supported the Mujahideen

  • 1988: Soviets withdrew

  • (Soviet-Afghan War = the Soviet “Vietnam War”)

Rise of Reagan

  • 1980: Reagan united conservative factions to win (fiscal conservatives, social conservatives/evangelicals, Cold War hawks, Libertarians, etc.)

  • Supply-side economics (trickle down economics): tax cuts for the rich and deregulation

  • Reagan Doctrine: aimed to “rollback” the USSR influence

AIDS/HIV Pandemic

  • Began in 1981; peaked in 1997 (3.3mil/year)

  • Reagan ignored the crisis - led to excess deaths

  • Disproportionately impacted(s) minorities

  • 36.3mil deaths as of 2020

End of the Cold War

  • 1989: Berlin Wall fell

  • 1990: Germany reunified

  • Contributed to unrest throughout the Eastern Bloc

  • 1991: Soviet Union collapsed

Thesis

Although a lot of civil rights and protest movements were taking off in the US, the fight was far from over due to the rise of Reagan and the AIDS/HIV Pandemic.

9.2: Conflict, Migration, and Economic Change in the ‘90s

Persian Gulf War (1991)

  • Operation Desert Shield: US stationed troops in Saudi Arabia

  • Operation Desert Storm: US (and allies) invaded Iraq in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

  • War is becoming more stealthy and less mechanical in terms of tanks

Results

  • “Highway of Death”: US attacked the retreating Iraqi military

  • 300 US deaths & 20k Iraqi deaths; Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait

Migration

  • Latin America and Asian migration affected culture and supplied labor

  • Population increases shifted to the South and West

  • New Great Migration: return African-American migration to the South (a reversal of the “Great Migration”)

  • Many African-Americans started migrating to the South after 1990 due to Civil Rights Movements and decreasing institutional racism.

Domestic Turmoil

  • Rodney King riots (1992): erupted after a jury acquitted officers charged with beating Rodney King; 63 dead

  • Waco Siege (1993): US gov’t led a siege on a cult compound; 86 dead

Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)

  • Terrorists bombed a federal building (168 dead)

Digital Economy

  • Manufacturing and unions declined

  • Internet increased economic productivity (dot-com bubble) and access to info

  • Real wages stagnated amid economic inequality

Thesis

Although there was US conflict with Iraq, there was also conflict on the home-front due to bombings, riots, and the rise of digital economy.

9.3: 21st Century Challenges

2000 Election

  • George W. Bush (R) lost the popular vote (~500k)

  • Bush V. Gore: SCOTUS gave Bush the presidency (stopped a vote recount in Florida)

9/11

  • al-Qaeda terrorist attacks; 2,996 deaths (deadlier than Pearl Harbor attack)

  • Increased Islamophobia

  • Bush responded with a “War on Terror”

  • PATRIOT ACT (2001): law to combat terrorism; authorized detention without trial and warrantless searches

  • Takeaway 9/11 video: It was very apocalyptic-like and something never seen before for most people. They also didn’t know what was happening, so it was just really terrifying.

Invasion of Afghanistan (2001)

  • Goals: topple the Taliban and dismantle al-Qaeda

  • Initially successful

  • 176k+ Afghan deaths (Costs of War Project, 2021)

  • 2021: US withdrew; Taliban regained power (longest war in US history)

  • Takeaway Afghanistan doc: The US staying in Afghanistan for longer than they should’ve caused the Taliban to regroup and take over all of Afghanistan. Parallels to Vietnam.

9.4: US Invasion of Iraq

Background

  • After 9/11, the US adopted a policy of preemptive war

  • Goals: Overthrow Saddam Hussein and remove WMDs (weapons of mass destruction)

  • Iraq War Resolution (2002): Congressional resolution to attack Iraq

  • 2/15/2003: 600+ global cities protested (“largest protest… in human history”)

Invasion (2003)

  • “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign

  • US removed Hussein and toppled the Iraqi gov’t

Results

  • No WMDs were found (ISG, UN, & US Senate)

  • 9.2mil displaced (2020); 650k+ deaths (Lancet, 2006)

Human Rights Abuses

  • Guantanamo Bay: prison in Cuba where detainees are held without trial

  • Abu Ghraib: Iraqi prison where US tortured detainees

  • Bolstered the anti-war movement

  • Takeaway (Iraq, Iran, US vid): The invasion of Iraq not only was unjustified, but also caused more harm than good for Iraq and the US. It also led to conflicts with Iran that are occurring today.

  • Difference: The War in Iraq was much longer than the Persian Gulf War. Similarity: They both invaded Iraq.

Barack Obama

  • 2008: Elected as the first Black President