The USA in the modern world

The latest period of the US history begins with the end of the Cold War tensions between the USA and the USSR and the presidency of Bill Clinton. Thus it is from 1991-till nowadays. In the 1990's the United States played the role of world policeman, sometimes alone but more often in alliances. The decade began with Sadam Husein's invasion of Kuwait and the resultant Gulf War. By September, 1994, the U.S. was once again sending troops to a foreign country to overthrow a military dictatorship, this time in Haiti. In 1996 about 20,000 American troops were deployed to Bosnia as part of a NATO peace keeping force. In late March 1999, the U.S. joined NATO in air strikes against Yugoslavia in an effort to halt the Yugoslavian government's policy of ethnic cleansing in its province of Kosovo. On the domestic front big issues were connected with violence and sex scandals dominated the media, e.g. President Clinton kept the gossip flowing as several women accused him of sexual misconduct. As for the presidency of George Bush, it was very rich in terms of foreign policy events. Bush decided to withdraw from global initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The Bush presidency has also been marked by diplomatic tensions with China and North Korea, the latter of which admitted in 2003 to having been in the process of building nuclear weapons and threatened to use them if provoked by the U.S. The administration is concerned that Iran may also be developing nuclear weapons, although Iran has denied such accusations and maintains that it is pursuing peaceful use of nuclear energy. The USA faced horrible terroristic attacs-On September 11, 2001 two hijacked planes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City. After that Bush announced that the U.S. was fighting a war on terrorism. On October 7, the U.S. started the military campaign in Afghanistan. The Bush administration has been criticized for holding several hundred people in jails without trial. To the “axis of evil” Bush also related Iraq. Bush claimed that he was preparing to open a new front in the U.S global "war on terrorism". Bush declared, "Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror." American troops captured Baghdad and Iraqi Constitution was signed. Throughout the course of the Iraq war, Bush was often the target of harsh criticism. After the terroristic acts through an act of Congress, the Department of Homeland Security was created. Thus the USA are often referred to as the superpower of the modern world. Apart from military actions the USA actively influences the rest of the world by movies, music, lifestyle etc

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1552