GRC - The Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton Administrations, 1981-2000, Part III (Lesson)

The Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton Administrations, 1981-2000, Part III

September 19, 1993—Israel and Palestine

• In September 1993, the new Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed a series of agreements whereby Israel recognized the PLO as the leader of the Palestinian people and established the Palestinian National Authority and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel's right to exist. The agreements were called the Oslo Accords and included provisions for Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. These provisions later paved the way for a peace treaty between Israel and neighboring Jordan. Reactions to the Oslo Accords were mixed as extremists on both sides decried the concessions while the majority of both sides viewed the negotiations with hope.

November 1, 1993—International

• Formed by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the European Union (EU) went into effect in November 1993. The new organization united the existing European Community (EC,) the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) under one section of the EU to handle European economic, social and environmental policies. It also created a section to deal with foreign policy and military and another section to deal with judicial affairs for Europe. It has its own parliament and military. Eventually, in 2002, the EU began the circulation of its own currency—the Euro—among member nations as one common currency.

1994—North Korea

• A combination of bad economic decisions, the loss of Soviet funding, and natural disasters led to food production within North Korea to decline quickly. Over the next several years, North Korea experienced the Great Famine, or the "Arduous March" as it was called there. Due to North Korea's isolation, the exact number of deaths that resulted will probably never be known for sure, but many reports suggest hundreds of thousands died every year of the famine. But one result that is documented is that North Korea has not yet become self-sufficient with regards to food production for its population—it relies heavily on food imports from multiple nations.

January 1, 1994—International

• On the first of January in 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. Signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States, NAFTA was built on trade negotiations started in 1990 and formalized in the 1992 signing. NAFTA provided for the removal of tariffs between the three nations. In response to NAFTA going into effect, Mexico experienced a positive economic impact but also the Zapatista Uprising. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation viewed NAFTA as an attack on lands owned by native Mexicans and on their ability to economically compete with cheap American goods. On the same day that NAFTA went into effect, Zapatista rebels declared war on the Mexican government but signed a cease-fire agreement in February.

April 27, 1994—South Africa

• South Africa held its first election in which all races could vote in April 1994. The nation elected Nelson Mandela as president and he immediately started the Reconstruction and Development Programme to reverse the results of decades of Apartheid. In 1997, a new constitution for South Africa went into effect. This is what was written in the Preamble:
• " 'We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to —Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations. May God protect our people."

• In 1999, in his early 80s, Nelson Mandela stepped down as president of South Africa. [Side Note: The South African generation that first became eligible to vote in the 2014 election is called the "Born-Free Generation" as they were the first voters born after Apartheid ended and all races could vote.]

January 1995—Science & Technology

• Two Japanese companies launch the Digital Video Disc (DVD) in January 1995.

January 1, 1995—International

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) formed on this date. Headquartered in Switzerland, the WTO deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Their intent is to ensure that trade practices are as smooth, predictable and free as possible.

September 1995—International

• Hosted by Beijing, China, the Fourth World Conference on Women met during September 1995. Considered a turning point for gender equality's global agenda, tens of thousands of participants worked to consolidate the advancements made in previous decades. From this point forward, review conferences met every five years to judge the success of the plan established in 1995.

September 19, 1995—Haiti

• In the years since "Baby Doc's" exile in 1986, Haiti spent 18 years trying to create a stable government without much success. Elected officials continued to be deposed by the military, elections had to be postponed due to riots, and political deadlock prevented Haiti from enjoying stability. When it became apparent that the Haitian military was again preparing to overthrow an elected official, the United States military intervened and returned Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office in September 1995. Despite U.S., and later, UN troops, Haiti's government continued to swing like a pendulum between elected governments and military governments—both accused of corruption. [After Note: Do you remember when we first learned about Haiti becoming independent and the debt it was required to pay to France as reparations for that independence in 1804? Haiti made their last payment to France in 1947—in today's euros, the amount paid by Haiti translates into € 17 billion. Many within the international community have called upon France to return that money to Haiti—a nation that was devastated by a 2010 earthquake.]

November 4, 1995—Palestine and Israel

• "For their efforts to create peace in the Middle East," PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Following a rally supporting the Oslo Accords that led to the Nobel Prize, a right-wing Israeli extremist assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as he walked to his car.

July 5, 1996—Science & Technology

• On this date, the first cloned mammal was born in Scotland. The sheep named Dolly proved that a cell taken from a specific part of the body could be used to clone the whole body.

September 27, 1996—Afghanistan

• Taliban forces ended the four years of civil war that followed the fall of the communist government in Afghanistan by taking over Kabul in September 1996. At this point, the organization was a little over two years old—but had support from Pakistan—and all key Afghani government bodies fell into their hands. Their first acts were to implement strict laws in the name of Islam that came as an affront to a Muslim community that had not lived under Shari'a before. Under the Taliban regime, international terrorists were given safe haven to recruit, train, plan global attacks, and hide from international law enforcement agencies—including a man named Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization.

 

 

February 19, 1997—China

• In China, Deng Xiaoping died in February 1997. When Deng Xiaoping first arrived, he brought in reforms that loosened the government's control over the nation's economy. These reforms included decentralizing China's economy. For the first time in decades, farms and businesses were handed over to private owners and China's economy moved a little more towards a Mixed Economy. Deng Xiaoping and his government then created Special Economic Zones and Special Administration Regions within China. Within these zones, unique laws apply to allow an increase in international trade and private ownership. As you can see from the map, these zones do not make up a majority of the land in China; but the economic successes of each of these zones have played a large role in the economic growth for the nation as a whole. Deng Xiaoping referred to the existence of these "capitalist" zones within China with his slogan- "One China, Two Systems." Hong Kong became the first Special Administration Region in July 1997 when Great Britain transferred "ownership" of its former colony back to China.

May 16, 1997—Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

• After three decades as the dictator of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (sometimes known as Zaire,) Mobutu Sese Seko's reign came to an end in a coup led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila and backed by the governments of Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda during the First Congo War. Absent from the nation at the time of the coup, Mobutu returned home to a crumbling resistance and quickly fled for a life in exile in May 1997. Of course, that life in exile only lasted a few more months as he died of prostate cancer. Kabila's government renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of the Congo—perhaps for the same reason that Mobutu named it Zaire—to remove the taint of the previous government. And tainted that previous government was—under the toxic leadership of Mobutu, the second largest nation in Africa was left bankrupt. Foreshadowing the next couple of decades of violence, Kabila was assassinated within four years of taking the government's reins by his own bodyguard.

July 1997—International

• Beginning in Thailand in July 1997, a financial crisis spread through Asia wreaking havoc on non-communist economies. Worried that the financial crisis would extend beyond the continent, international lenders withdrew their credit to Asian nations that were affected—this, naturally, resulted in further bankruptcies within Asia. By 1999, signs appeared that the economies were to start a recovery soon—but this did nothing to increase anti-globalization movements (who fought politically against economic globalization) within Europe and the United States.

July 23, 1997--Balkans

• Slobodan Milosevic became president of the Yugoslav Federation (consisting of Serbia and Montenegro) in July 1997. Milosevic had been one of the signers of the Dayton Agreement of 1995 that brought peace to the Yugoslav Federation following the series of regional secessions that led to the start of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991. However, in 1998, he chose to ignore the provision in the Agreement that said the Yugoslav Federation had to respect the rights of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. (Kosovo was a territory within the republic of Serbia that was within the Yugoslav Federation—you are going to want to look at a map to get a clearer understanding of this— 'tis confusing.) Tired of attacks from the Kosovo Liberation Army (fighting for Kosovan independence,) Milosevic ordered a full-scale raid on Kosovo—in the process, committing grave atrocities against the Kosovo people.

April 10, 1998—Northern Ireland

• "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland spurred the United Kingdom to suspend the Northern Irish parliament in 1972—the same year as "Bloody Sunday." But this did nothing to end the frequent and violent disputes between the majority Unionists (who were predominantly Protestant and wished to remain a part of the United Kingdom) and the Nationalists (who were predominantly Catholic and wanted to unite with the Republic of Ireland.) But in the early 1990s, weary of "The Troubles," both sides pledged to cooperate in finding a way to resolve the conflict. In 1994, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) signed a ceasefire—which brought an end to most of the violence of "The Troubles." The two sides then started political negotiations to ensure that the violence did not return. In April 1998, they signed the Good Friday Agreement . Approved by voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement addressed the relationships between Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. It concluded that as the majority within Northern Ireland wished to remain part of the United Kingdom, it would do so but with more political power granted to the Catholic minority. The Good Friday Agreement did not please everyone nor did it bring an end to all of the violence—but, for the most part, it signified the end of "The Troubles" and allowed Northern Ireland to rebuild.

May 11, 1998—India and Pakistan

• Having pulled out of negotiations over the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) two years earlier, India presented a fairly public sign that something was up with regards to its nuclear program. On May 11, 1998—despite international warnings not to—India test detonated a nuclear bomb. Pakistan—who had its own nuclear program—followed suit less than three weeks later by testing one of their own bombs. The international community went into an uproar that resulted in stiff sanctions against both nations. While the purpose of India's test might have been to warn Pakistan away from the Kashmir province, it did not work. Under a particularly risk-taking army chief, Pakistan continued to pester India by sending troops into Kashmir. While the international community (particularly the United States) was still upset with the nuclear tests, global events soon unfolded that forced them to move on and work to improve relations with India in order to form an alliance against global terrorism.

 May 21, 1998—Indonesia

• The 1997 Asian financial crisis impacted more than just economies—often times, when the economy is not doing well, neither will the politicians in charge. Indonesia was one of the nations greatly affected by the crisis and this rolled over into the nation's politics. Riots, sparked by the rising prices, and widespread unemployment forced Suharto to resign as the Indonesian president—he'd been in power for thirty-one years. In 1999, Indonesia experienced its first democratic transfer of power in its history—a new president stepped into the position and his elected vice president joined him—the new vice president was the daughter of Sukarno (the president Suharto had overthrown in 1968.) The new government placed East Timor (a territory ruled by Indonesia since 1975) in the hands of the United Nations and East Timor gained independence a couple of years later. Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri eventually rose to the position of president and Indonesia continued its commitment to hold regular elections to ensure there would be no more Sukarnos or Suhartos.

December 16, 1998—Iraq

• Worried that President Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD,) the United Nations (UN) sent weapons inspectors into Iraq in 1997. The inspectors were denied access to certain sites. Therefore, U.S. President Clinton announced in December 1998 his intent to launch air strikes against Iraq to protect American interests and global security. The air strikes occurred but did nothing to convince Hussein to allow UN weapons inspectors into the previously forbidden areas—a decision that ultimately led to a war in the 21^st Century.

March 24, 1999—Balkans

• During the year before, the conflict in Kosovo escalated as the Yugoslav army faced off against confrontational Kosovo freedom fighters. When the peace talks between the two sides broke down, Serbian leaders engaged in "ethnic cleansing" (in other words, genocide) of Albanians within Kosovo leading to a mass exodus of the population. Believing that intervention was needed on behalf of the Albanians, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) attempted to enter the Yugoslav Federation but were blocked by President Milosevic. At that point, NATO launched air strikes that ceased when the Yugoslav army pulled out of Kosovo. The next year, Milosevic was voted out of office and arrested the year after for war crimes stemming from his army's actions during the conflict with Kosovo. In the meantime, Kosovo became administered by the United Nations and declared their independence in 2008—an act that was rejected by Serbia but recognized by the United States and most of the European Union (EU.)

December 31, 1999—Panama

• At noon on December 31, 1999, control over the Panama Canal switched over from the United States to Panama as planned by the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

May 7, 2000—Russia

• Vladimir Putin assumed the position of Russian president after an election in May 2000 after Boris Yeltsin, under pressure from a severe recession and rising unpopularity, stepped down. Within Russia, the former KGB officer has enjoyed much popularity since but on the international stage, President Putin has been viewed with more skepticism. During the first decade of the 21^st Century, Putin served as president for two terms. He then returned for another term as president in 2012.

September 28, 2000—Israel and Palestine

• The optimism that followed the signing of the Oslo Accords soon died out when Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli fundamentalist in 1995. The new, more conservative leaders of the Israeli government were unable to get along with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO.) They ignored the agreements reached between Rabin and Arafat and encouraged an increase of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip—the area promised to Palestinians under the Oslo Accords. Therefore, a second intifada commenced in September 2000 and lasted more than four years. This new uprising led to an increase in violence previously not seen between Palestinians and the Israeli government, with the use of both Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli military strikes in civilian areas. The world watched as the two people tore each other apart in their fight over land at increasingly desperate measures. But it wasn't just the "two people." For decades, the PLO had been in charge of the Arab fight for a Palestinian state. But those decades had passed without much success and younger generations began looking for new leaders to help in the Palestinian fight. Groups like Hamas and Hezbollah emerged to take the place of the weakening PLO and its aging leader, Yasser Arafat. With Arafat's death in 2004, these groups found their path to leading the Palestinian cause unblocked and stepped up their attacks on Israel. In 2006, Israel again attacked Lebanon—this time in an attempt to annihilate Hezbollah that had launched attacks on Israel from within Lebanon. The war only lasted 34 days and yet thousands died and over a million Lebanese and Israeli people temporarily lost their homes. Significantly, nothing political changed—the war ended in a stalemate. Two years later, Israel attacked the Gaza Strip in an effort to end rocket launches into Israel from there. Again, there were disastrous results. The fighting only lasted 22 days but demolished Gaza's infrastructure system and killed thousands of Palestinians resulting in a United Nations investigation into Israel's conduct. More than half of a century has passed since the world recognized Israel as a nation and the first Arab-Israeli War was fought. Yet the questions over whether or not Israel will ever be able to exist in peace with its neighbors and whether or not Palestinians will ever be granted a sovereign nation continue to this day.

 

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.