Grade 9 Social Studies

The End of the Cold War

By the 1980s, tensions between the US and Soviet Union were eased.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

• Became Soviet Leader in 1985

• Introduced Major political reforms:– Citizens could criticize

government– Allowed capitalism– Decreased spending on

military and the arms race– Loosened control of the

States in the Soviet Sphere of Influence

• As a result the republics of the Soviet Union broke away.

• Russia stood on its own and was no longer a Superpower by the 1990s.

A DIFFERENT WORLD AFTER THE COLD WAR

• During the Cold War there were 2 dominant superpowers: US and USSR

• All (most) other countries, not wanting to be isolated, aligned themselves with one of the two superpowers (A “BALANCE of POWER)

• Once the Cold War ended, nations didn’t have to worry about doing things against the interests of their allied superpower

• In many ways, international aggression and arms build-up increased among non-powerful states

THE UNITED NATIONS

• Created after World War II as a collection of world nations whose interests were to maintain international peace through collective security.

• During the cold war, The UN was mostly involved in conflicts that resulted from tensions between the US and USSR (ex. Korean War)

• After the Cold War, they became much more involved in intervening in disputes (usually ethnic or religious conflicts) within independent states.

TYPES OF UN MISSIONS

PEACEKEEPING

• Carry out and enforce the terms of an agreement.

(ex. Returning refugees to their homes or removing weapons)

PEACEMAKING

• Will take sides and use FORCE to impose a solution. Usually happens when there is a humanitarian crisis taking place.

PEACEBUILDING

• Rebuilding after a conflict ends.

(ex. Monitoring an election)

Complete the question on the major UN Peace Missions of the 1990s.

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM• TERRORISM: use of violence and intimidation to

achieve political goals. Terrorists want to spread fear and use civilians as targets.

Terrorism has rose dramatically since the end of the Cold War for a number of reasons:

1) When the balance of power ended, many other countries’ leaders wanted to vie for a position of power.

2) The new independence of many states caused a lot of conflict over the legitimate leadership with the borders.

3) Cold War Conflicts (ex. Afghanistan) left nations in ruins and a lust for revenge emerged among the populations.

4) The abundance of arm s (including nuclear) that were developed during that time were easily accessed by radical groups once the Soviets no longer had use for them.

Complete the section on your sheet about Terrorism.