Cold War Ends?
AIM: Who “won” the Cold War?
Do Now: Based on the cartoon, does peace come at a
cost?
The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis
• Six-Day War (1967): In 1973, Egypt and
Syria attacked Israel trying to win back
lands lost
– America aided Israel  uneasy peace
established
• In October of 1973, Arab nations placed
an embargo on oil
•
"energy crisis” (Oct. 1973): Arab nations
placed an embargo on oil
– A 55 MPH speed limit was set to
conserve fuel
– Using OPEC to exert their will, the
Arab nations nearly quadrupled the
price of oil by the end of the 70s
Helsinki Accords, July 1975
• Gerald Ford-USA
• Leonid Brehznev- SU
• Helsinki accords:
agreements with the USSR
– the boundaries of eastern
Europe were agreed upon
– guarantees were made of
human rights
– The document was seen
both as a significant step
toward reducing tensions
and as a major diplomatic
boost for the SU
Defeat in Vietnam
• Goal: to contain communism America left in 1973,
generally having done that
– 1975: North Vietnam overran and took over South Vietnam
• Win or loss?: America didn't technically lose the war
but in the eyes of Americans we lost.
– America left when it was a tie, then the U.S.-supported South
Vietnam lost
Carter’s Humanitarian Diplomacy
• Full diplomatic relations with China were
reestablished
• Planned to turn over the Panama Canal to
Panama by the year 2000
• Too soft?the Cold War still going on
– Communist revolutions taking place in Africa
Foreign Affairs
• SALT II agreements: Carter and
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev
agreed to limit nuclear
weapons
– Senate refused to ratify it
• Iranian Hostage Crisis (1979):
militant Muslim radicals in Iran
stormed the U.S. embassy in
Teheran and took everyone
hostage
• The militants demanded that the U.S.
hand over the shah who'd fled earlier
• SU attacked Afghanistan (Dec
1979):
– to expand communism
– gain oil fields next-door
neighbor Iran
Foreign Affairs
• Carter’s response: placed an
embargo on the U.S.S.R. and
boycotted the 1980 summer
Olympics in Moscow
• Iranian Hostage Crisis: A
secret rescue mission was
planned and tried  fail
– hostages not released until
Jan. 20, 1981 on Reagan’s
inauguration
Reagan Renews the Cold War
• Soviet Union =the "Evil
Empire"  build up military
– Thought capitalistic U.S.
economy could better afford
this than the communist
Soviet economy.
• Strategic Defense Initiative /
"Star Wars“: put satellites in
orbit armed with lasers that
could shoot down Soviet
missiles
Tearing down the wall
• President George H.W. Bush
• Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Premier
• 1989: Berlin Wall falls communism falls?
– Did America win? Cold war over?
Disintegration of USSR
• 1991- internal (failed) military coup against
Gorbachev
• Coup destabilized the Soviet political structurerepublics start declaring indepenence
• disintegration of the Soviet Union
• Boris Yeltsin emerges as Russian president.
The Persian Gulf Crisis
• Saddam Hussein (Aug 1990): invaded and took over Kuwait
– Known as a dictator who killed his own people if they opposed him
• President Bush responded by going to the United Nations.
– The Security Council gave the okay to use force to remove Saddam if he
didn't leave by January 15, 1991
– Bush built up a huge military force.
– Iraqi’s surrender after “Operation Desert Storm”
America Post-Cold War
Middle East- Same old cold war breeding ground?
2003 Iraq War- Russia strongly opposes US invasion
2007 Poland Controversy-American plan to build an anti-ballistic missile defense system in
Poland draws Russia to test new missiles and aim them at Poland
2013 Snowden Affair: Russia grants asylum to US wanted Edward Snowden
2014 Ukraine Crisis: Gov’t collapsed, Russia invaded and took over CrimeaUS refuses to
recognize Crimea as a part of Russia
2015 Syrian Civil War: Russia supports Syrian leader Assad. US condems Assad for human rights
violations. Russia joins Iraq, Iran, and Syria to coordinate their military efforts. Announce plans
for a future Russia political settlement in Syria.
Is the Cold War over?
• Debate
• In groups of 4:
– 2 arguing the war is over
– 2 arguing the war is not over
– Generate at least 1 question to ask the opposing team