Unit Introduction:

Unit 10: The Promise of a Global Community (1945-2000)

The period from the end of hostilities of WWII in 1945 to 2000 was a period of accelerated change. Programs and policies that began taking shape during the war were realized in full and became guiding and sometimes conflicting paradigms. Internationalists succeeded in the establishment of the United Nations as economic globalization was driven in part by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and later the World Trade Organization. Regional politico-economic organizations began to form including the European Union and OPEC, later to be joined by others. European hegemony became a thing of the past as power shifted first to a bi-polar situation between the US and Soviet Union, and by the end of the 20^th century to the US as the last remaining “superpower”. With the end of the cold war came the disintegration of the U.S.S.R. and the waning of its influence world wide. The shakeup that followed allowed new opportunities for international cooperation, but also a new awareness of problems such as environmental contamination, overpopulation, religious extremism, ethnic conflict, and terrorism.

The differential impacts of WWII on the globe were both constructive and destructive. The USA’s use of atomic weaponry introduced deadly new weapons of mass destruction, the possibility of ongoing arms races, mutually assured destruction, and even the investigation into space-based defense systems (SDI). The rift between Stalin’s Soviet Union and the United States that began during World War II deepened and intensified as mutual suspicion and distrust led to a “Cold War” of espionage and brinksmanship. Diplomatic efforts alternated with threats as both sides attempted to expand their ideological, political, economic, and military influence and contain the influence of the other. WWII also brought greater economic integration, however, partially motivated by strategic considerations but also international stabilization.

Women participated in the world economy in greater numbers and capacity. Reliable birth control became available, freeing them from the constant contingency of pregnancy. In many of the liberal democracies women were allowed to vote and hold office, while in communist states they had near equality in the military and/or communist party. “Feminism” gave way to “feminisms” as the variety of cultural, economic, and political factors women faced was acknowledged.

A final outcome of WWII was the establishment of the successor to the failed League of Nations, the United Nations. With the (tenuous) support of the United States, the UN has been much more effective than its predecessor. During the cold war period, however, the US and USSR, as permanent members of the security council, often hamstrung the UN in the name of cold war strategy. Resolving conflict in the Balkans and elsewhere, the organization has proven its capability – if supported by the “superpower(s)”.

The overwhelming paradigm of the period, however, was bipolarity. The Soviet Union and United States competed for influence by forming political, military, cultural, and economic alliances in the Warsaw Pact and NATO. “East” versus “west” became a confrontational way to look at the world that fed into the consciousness of everyday citizens. The few nations, such as India, who refused to align with either side had a delicate dance to perform. The threat of intervention, of becoming the site for a proxy war between the superpowers was very real and, in the cases of Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and elsewhere brutal warfare cost countless civilian lives. The impact of these wars on the populace of the superpowers is still being felt as civil rights movements morphed into anti-war movements which became anti-establishment movements and later environmentalism. Living on the edge of nuclear Armageddon and foreign wars without clear resolution took its toll on the American populace.

New nationalist movements followed decolonization in British India, Indo-China, and parts of the Middle East and Africa while Chinese and Japanese nationalism took new forms. India gained its independence from Britain only to suffer partition into three separate and mutually hostile states. Indo-China gained its independence but fell victim to cold war prerogatives; as the French withdrew from Vietnam American advisors were already arriving. Other parts of SE Asia underwent sometimes painful periods where oppressive regimes were supported by the Soviet Union or the United States in the name of Cold War strategy. Africa’s decolonization happened at different rates owing to the multitude of colonial powers involved and the differences in decolonization policies. Algeria underwent brutal civil war to break free from France while South Africa entered into decades of segregation under Apartheid. Geopolitical borders, drawn by Europeans ignorant (or unconcerned) about ethnic boundaries, later fed conflict and genocide in areas such as Rwanda and the Sudan.

The drive to establish capitalism in the pacific led to the rise of Asia’s “Seven Tigers”, a seeming vindication of modernization theory. Japan, relived from responsibilities for its defense and benefiting from new factories and a culture with a strong work ethic, became an economic giant along with Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and others. All nations, though, were subject to global economic fluctuations and crises, such as the Asian Currency Crisis, that impacted all involved negatively. An increasingly integrated world economy meant benefits but also systemic vulnerability. Nations that failed to develop continued to remain peripheral in the world system; advocates of development theory argue that they will be so permanently, consigned to providing cheap labor, raw materials, and toxic waste disposal to the core developed countries. Multinational corporations are ever willing to exploit freer environmental and labor laws as well as lower wages to maximize profits. Their influence is such that some question whether the idea of “national” economies is current.

With globalization came the spread of science, technology, and culture. Previously isolated areas have been forced to assimilate or accommodate global culture as technologies of communication facilitate the spread of culture from core to periphery. Changes in fashion flow outward while new ideas from the periphery are co-opted by the core flowing through communication networks like the internet. “Real time” coverage of news events has eliminated barriers of time and space that were waning with the advent of earlier technologies. Some argue that the absorption of liberal western values will lead to equitable development throughout the world. Others claim that the materialism of the west coupled with persistent inequality will result in a permanent system of “haves” versus “have nots” both within and among nations and regions. Increasingly membership in extreme religious organizations of many faiths has led to terrorism and increased geopolitical conflict.

Overall, historians argue whether the best model for the 20^th century is one of increasing convergence or diversity. Does the promise of modernization and the spread of western culture reflect the dominant force in contemporary events, or is the world instead fracturing into endless factions in an attempt to represent local interests against global organizations? Are terms such as “nation”, “world”, “east”, “west”, “developed”, “underdeveloped”, etc. valid units of analysis or are they artificial impositions in the service of the core over the periphery or neo-Marxist scholars? The diversity of interpretations social scientists are discussing reflect the sometimes fragmented and contentious nature of contemporary society.

Objectives: What will the students learn….

Students will:

1. Evaluate whether key marker events historians use for periodization from 1945-2000 are valid.

2. Analyze the causes of WWII and the war’s impact on the global framework; compare the war’s effects on areas outside of Europe.

3. Analyze the impact of the Cold War and nuclear weaponry on the global framework.

4. Evaluate the efficacy of international organizations including the United Nations, IMF, World Bank, and WTO.

5. Analyze changes over time in hegemony from European to bi-polar to American.

6. Describe, including key examples, nations aligned with the USA and USSR during the cold war as well as non-aligned nations.

7. Compare patterns of decolonization in India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

8. Identify the causes of the breakup of the Soviet Union and assess the impact on the international framework.

9. Identify important changes over time in the status of women from 1945-2000.

10. Explain causes in the shift in terminology from “feminism” to “feminisms” and describe two different “types” of feminism.

11. Analyze the causes of the rise of religious fundamentalism and extremism and identify key impacts.

12. Evaluate modernization theory in contrast with development or world systems theory.

13. Compare the effect of Iranian and Chinese (Maoist) revolutions on the roles of women.

14. Compare the legacies of colonialism and patterns of economic development in two of the following: Africa, Asia, or Latin America).

15. Analyze the notion of “the West” and “the East” in the context of Cold War ideology

16. Analyze and compare “types” of independence struggle.

17. Evaluate whether cultural convergence or diversity is the best model for understanding increased intercultural contact in the twentieth century.

18. Analyze the role of multinational corporations in the contemporary world economy.

19. Describe the impact of global economic fluctuations as a causal factor in the Asian Currency Crisis and give examples from one of the “Seven Tigers”.

Readings in the text:

Chapter 33: The Cold War and Decolonization, 1945-1975

Bulliet, Pages 831-852

Chapter 34: Crisis, Realignment, and the Dawn of the Post-Cold War World, 1975-1991

Bulliet, Pages 855-879

Chapter 35: The End of A Global Century, 1991-2000

Bulliet, Pages 882-903

Terms:

Third World	Cold War	Iron curtain	Non-aligned nations
United Nations	World Bank	Korean War	Vietnam War
Cuban Missile Crisis	North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)	Warsaw Pact	Cultural Revolution (China)
European Community	Helsinki Accords	Marshall Plan	Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Truman Doctrine	Proxy wars	Salvador Allende	Dirty War
Sandinistas	Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini	Saddam Husain	Keiretsu
Asian Tigers	Newly industrialized economies (NIEs)	Deng Xiaoping	Tiananmen Square
Mikhail Gorbachev	Perestroika	Solidarity	Thomas Malthus
Demographic transition	Ethnic cleansing	Economic sanctions	World Trade Organization (WTO)
Terrorism	Nuclear nonproliferation	Universal Declaration of Human Rights	Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
Cultural imperialism	High culture	Popular culture	postmodernism