GRC - Global Realignments and Changes Module Overview

Global Realignments and Changes

Introduction

The Butterfly effect....the whisper of wind that comes from the butterfly's flapping wing that used to have a "ripple" effect now becomes a rushing gust of change Emerging on the other side of a time with many revolutions and two world wars, it should come as no surprise to see the title of this unit - "Global Realignments and Changes." What might surprise you, though, is that while the time period covered in this unit is jam-packed with restructuring and changes—a lot of things stay the same. Which brings us back to the two philosophies from the beginning of this course- "The Butterfly Effect" and "Determinism" - that History straddles. There is an old saying "that the more things change, the more things stay the same." Following the Second World War, the world emerged in a condition never before seen - great prosperity and great destruction; great technological advances and great regressions; great highs and great lows. If you look up the word "great" in the dictionary (do people still use those?), you'll see that "great" means "unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions" or "unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity." This means that we've taken the same things but vastly inflated them—the whisper of wind that comes from the butterfly's flapping wing that used to have a ripple effect, now becomes a rushing gust of change; and the unbreakable chain of Determinism that seemed to be at least bendable before, now has the tensile strength of Iron Man's suit—and that certainly describes the time since World War II that is covered in this unit.

There are a lot of topics in this unit—the Cold War, the arms race, revolutions, global economics, natural resources, toxic leaders, economic changes, health crises, technology, individual national stories, terrorism, individual roles, decolonization—the list is endless. And it is very difficult to know where to start and how to tell the story of the world post-World War II without jumping all around and making it very confusing. Therefore, this module is broken up into separate lessons based on who was in the United States White House at the time. This is done for three reasons—one, it will help you gain a sense of the chronological order of world events based on a list that you are already familiar with; two, the United States was a "super power" during these events and played a role in many of them; and three, it will help you better understand the international role of a "super power" and the consequences that come from it.

Essential Questions

How did the Cold War determine foreign policies for various nations?
What were the consequences of the formation of Israel as a state?
What was the long-term effect of glasnost on the USSR and the world?
How were political movements in various nations similar and different?
How have the actions of terrorist groups (non-state) changed the shape of war?
How has the rise of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) affected the world?
What role has technology played in globalization?

Key Terms

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) — political party in South Africa; formed in 1912 in response to the oppression of black South Africans
AIDS — Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body's cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy; an AIDS pandemic broke out in the latter part of the 20^th Century
AL-QAEDA — a radical Islamic group organized by Osama bin Laden in the 1990s to engage in terrorist activities
APARTHEID — the South African policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race; practiced 1948-1993
APOLLO 11 — the space vehicle that carried three American astronauts to the moon and back in July 1969
ARAB LEAGUE — a union of Arab-speaking African and Asian countries formed in Cairo in 1945 to promote the independence, sovereignty, affairs and interests of its 22 member countries and four observers; also known as the League of Arab States
ARAB SPRING — a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in early 2011
ARAB-ISRAELI WARS — a series of four violent clashes between Arabs and Israelis over the existence of an Israeli state in the Middle East
AUTHORITARIAN —favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom
BA'ATH PARTY — Arab political party, in Syria and in Iraq; main ideological objectives are secularism, socialism, and pan-Arab unionism; in the early 1950s, it rapidly achieved political power in Syria
BAY OF PIGS — the botched 1961 U.S.-sponsored invasion by 1400 Cuban exiles into Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro
BERLIN WALL — the fortified concrete and wire barrier that separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989; built by the government of what was then East Germany to keep East Berliners from defecting to the West
CAMP DAVID ACCORDS — a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt issuing from the 1978 talks at Camp David between Egyptian President Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Begin, and the host, U.S. President Carter; signed in 1979
"CELEBRITY DIPLOMACY" —the use of celebrities in roles traditionally served by diplomats within the political and philanthropic fields
CONGO WARS — a series of wars fought in the Democratic Republic of the Congo including periods of civil wars and periods of outside aggressors between 1994 and 2003; sometimes referred to as Africa's First World War
CONSERVATISM — the holding of political views that favor free enterprise, private ownership, and socially conservative ideas
CONTAINMENT — American policy after World War II to "contain" the spread of communism as predicted in the Domino Theory
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS — the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the presence of missile sites in Cuba ; one of the "hottest" periods of the cold war
"CULT OF PERSONALITY" — a phenomenon that arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and at times a worshipful image of one's self, often through unquestioning flattery and praise, in order to dominate
CULTURAL REVOLUTION — the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, as it is formally known, began in China in 1966 under Mao Tse-tung's leadership with the purpose to strengthen Communism in China by removing traditional, capitalist or cultural elements Mao thought were undermining Communism (in particular the Four Olds)
DEFECTION — the desertion of one's country or cause in favor of an opposing one
DEMILITARIZED ZONE — an area free from military control
DOMINO THEORY — American political theory that Communism would spread throughout Asia—similar to dominoes falling in a line—if one nation became communist
EBOLA VIRUS — an infectious and frequently fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through contact with infected body fluids by a filovirus that turned into a pandemic during the last decades of the 20^th Century
EMBARGO — an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country
"ETHNIC CLEANSING" — the mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society
EUROPEAN UNION — a political and economic union, often called the EU, created to establish common economic, foreign, security, and justice policies among European member nations that evolved out of the merger between previous European organizations
"FOUR OLDS" — principles attacked during the Cultural Revolution in China- they included old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas
FUNDAMENTALISM — strict following of orthodox religious doctrines that does not allow for personal interpretation
G8 SUMMIT — an annual meeting between leaders from eight of the most powerful countries in the world; the purpose is to tackle global problems by discussing big issues and planning what actions to take
GLASNOST — (in the former Soviet Union) the policy or practice of more open consultative government and wider dissemination of information, initiated by leader Mikhail Gorbachev from 1985
GLOBALIZATION — the act of globalizing, or extending to other or all parts of the world
GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT — 1998 agreement between Irish Nationalists and Unionists that signified the end of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland
GREEN REVOLUTION — a series of initiatives between 1940s and late 1960s that increased agriculture production worldwide, especially in developing nations, through the use of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemical products along with the genetic modification of crops
GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT — 1963 confrontation between the United States and North Vietnam in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin that led to the escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
HELSINKI ACCORDS — an agreement signed by 35 nations that concluded the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Helsinki, Finland; the multifaceted Act addressed a range of prominent global issues and in so doing had a far-reaching effect on the Cold War and U.S.-Soviet relations
HEZBOLLAH — a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS — a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people; may stem from an internal or external conflict and usually occurs throughout a large land area
IGBO AND HAUSA — two ethnic groups living in Nigeria with a history of ethnic division and clashes independence and sovereignty
INDO-PAKISTANI WARS — a series of wars fought between India and Pakistan over border issues during the second half of the 20^th Century
INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES (ICBMS) — a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 3,400 miles primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND — an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., of "189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the globe"
INTIFADA — "the shaking off;" uprising of Palestinians against Israeli rule; there have been two major ones (1987, 2000)
IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS — the Iranian militants' seizure and holding of 66 American citizens from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran in 1979 and following 444 days
IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR — an American political scandal from the mid-1980s dealing with the United States' secretly arranged arms sales to Iran in return for promises of Iranian assistance in securing the release of Americans held hostage in Lebanon, then funneling the money to a guerrilla army (the Contras) in Nicaragua
IRANIAN REVOLUTION — the 1979 overthrow of Iran's monarchy and the establishment of an Islamic Republic
IRAN-IRAQ WAR — war between Iran and Iraq that started in 1980 and lasted a decade with no formal peace agreement
ISLAMIC SOCIALISM — a term coined by various Muslim leaders to describe a more spiritual form of socialism; a system of government adopted by some Muslim nations that blends the teachings of Islam with the economic principles of socialism
KHMER ROUGE — a communist guerrilla organization which opposed the Cambodian government in the 1960s and waged a civil war from 1970, taking power in 1975
KOREAN WAR — fought in the early 1950s between the United Nations, supported by the United States, and the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea); began in 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea
LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES — also known as the Arab League; a regional organization of Arab countries in North Africa and Southwest Asia (Middle East) formed in 1945 to protect their independence and sovereignty
MAO'S LITTLE RED BOOK — the small book with a red cover, printed in China and containing many sayings from the speeches and writings of the Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung
MARTIAL LAW — martial law occurs when a nation's military takes over the governing of the nation from the civilian government- sometimes it is done in emergencies when the civilian government has lost control of the nation, sometimes it is done as an act of control by corrupt forces
MILITARY COUP — the sudden overthrow of a government by a usually small group of persons in or previously in positions of military authority
MUNICH MASSACRE — a terrorist attack led by the Black September group in which eight Palestinian terrorists captured and killed Israeli hostages from their residential quarters during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany
MY LAI MASSACRE — the mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War; carried out in 1968 by United States troops under the command of Lieutenant William Calley
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE — the international prize awarded annually by the Nobel Foundation for outstanding achievements in the promotion of world peace
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOS) — not-for-profit organizations that are independent from states and international governmental organizations
NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA) — an agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico designed to remove tariff barriers between the three nations; went into effect 1994
"OPERATION DESERT STORM" — the name used for the 1991 military operation in which international armed forces, including British and US troops, attacked Iraq in the Gulf War for the purpose of removing Iraq from Kuwait
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) — a group of member countries that discuss and develop economic and social policy
ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) — an organization of African nations formed in 1963 for the purpose of coordinating policy and promoting unity among African peoples
ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC) — organization of the world's oil producing nations outside of North America and Europe to provide guidance to member nations on oil pricing; primarily made up of Middle Eastern states
OSLO ACCORDS — An agreement brokered by Norway after months of secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993
PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO ) — an organization created in 1964 with the intent to create an independent State of Palestine and serve as the representative for the Palestinian people
PARIS AGREEMENT — a multi-national agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY — democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor
PEACE CORPS — a volunteer program run by the United States government with the stated mission of providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries
PERESTROIKA — (in the former Soviet Union) the policy or practice of restructuring or reforming the economic and political system. First proposed by Leonid Brezhnev in 1979 and actively promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika originally referred to increased automation and labor efficiency, but came to entail greater awareness of economic markets and the ending of central planning
PORTUGUESE COLONIAL WAR — war fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies through the 1960s into the 1970s
PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRACY — a democratic system of government in which the powers of the president are constitutionally separate from those of the legislature; the president serves as the head of state and government
PROTECTIONISM — government actions that restrict international trade within the government's nation in order to protect local industries
RED GUARDS — students directed by Mao Zedong to attack the Four Olds in China during the Cultural Revolution
REFUGEES — persons who flee for refuge or safety from their homes in times of persecution, war or disaster; usually they flee to another country; displaced persons
"RESOURCE CURSE" — a phrase used by economists to explain what happens when a nation discovers a valuable natural resource and converts its economy to be dependent up that resource
SANCTIONS — coercive measures, usually economic, adopted by nations acting together against a nation violating international law; basically, penalties used against a nation to get it to behave according to international rules
SIX DAY WAR — the 1967 war between Arabs and Israelis; part of the Arab-Israeli Wars series
SOUTHEAST ASIA TREATY ORGANIZATION (SEATO) — an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES — geographic areas within a nation whose economy operates under its own economic regulations separate from the rest of the nation
SPUTNIK I — the first artificial Earth satellite launched by the USSR in 1957
STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS TREATY (SALT) — The first agreements, known as SALT I and SALT II, signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively, and intended to restrain the arms race in strategic (long-range or intercontinental) ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons.
SUPERPOWER — a very powerful and influential nation (used especially with reference to the US and the former Soviet Union when these were perceived as the two most powerful nations in the world)
SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS — international organizations or unions in which member states transcend national boundaries or interests to share in the decision making and vote on issues pertaining to the wider grouping
TALIBAN — very conservative Islamic party and militant group that controlled Afghanistan prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks in America
TERRORISM — the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims
TET OFFENSIVE — one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War; launched on January 30, 1968, by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's army against the forces of the South Vietnamese army and the U.S. army; marked a turning point in American public support of the Vietnam War
"THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD" — an effort made by the Communist Party of China under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung to transform China into a society capable of competing with other industrialized nations, within a short, five-year time period beginning in 1958
"THE TROUBLES" — an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century as nationalists fought against unionists and Great Britain; a period of increased terrorist activity (on the part of both sides) in Northern Ireland
THREE MILE ISLAND ACCIDENT — 1979; the most significant nuclear accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history
THREE-WORLD MODEL — a sociological model that described nations based on positions taken during the Cold War
TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE — occurred during student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989; the killing and arresting of thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square by the Chinese army
TLATELOLCO MASSACRE — the killing of an estimated 300 to 400 students and civilians by military and police on October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City; part of Mexico's Dirty War against leftist groups
TORRIJOS-CARTER TREATIES —two treaties signed by the United States and Panama in 1977 that established the return of control over the Panama Canal back to Panama
"TOXIC LEADER" — a political leader with a combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on the nation
TRUMAN DOCTRINE — the principle that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or communist insurrection; first expressed in 1947 by US President Truman in a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey, the doctrine was seen by the communists as an open declaration of the Cold War
TUTSIS AND HUTUS — two ethnic groups living in Rwanda that participated in genocide against one another during fight for political control
UNION CARBIDE — an American chemical manufacturing company whose plant in India experienced one of the world's worst industrial disasters in 1984
UNITED NATIONS — organization formed after World War II as an intergovernmental organization to promote international cooperation
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR) — a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France; a list of fundamental human rights to be universally protected that has been translated into over 500 languages
VACCINE — a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases
VIETCONG — the communist group of rebels living in South Vietnam prior to and during the Vietnam War
VIETMINH — a communist group in Vietnam formed during World War II to promote independence; led by Ho Chi Minh, the Vietminh formed North Vietnam and fought to reunite the partitioned Vietnams in the 1950s through the 1970s
VIETNAM WAR — (1955-75) was a Cold War conflict pitting the U.S. and the remnants of the French colonial government in South Vietnam against the indigenous but communist Vietnamese independence movement, the Viet Minh, following the latter's expulsion of the French in 1954
WORLD BANK — a United Nations international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) — a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health; established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION — international organization that regulates trade between many of the world's nations
Y2K — "Year Two Thousand," most commonly used in reference to the Y2K Bug— a computer bug related to the formatting and storage of calendar data that worried financial and political institutions over the safety of records stored on computers as the world approached the 21^st century
YOM KIPPUR WAR — a war that began on Yom Kippur in 1973 with the attack of Israel by Egypt, Syria, and Iraq: Israel recovered most of its initial losses; part of the series of wars known as the Arab-Israeli Wars
YUGOSLAV WARS — a series of ethnically-based wars and insurgencies fought from 1991 to 2001 inside the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the Balkans

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS