Lecture 5

In 1988, Reagan's vice president, George Bush was elected the 41st president of the United States. Bush faced a dramatically changing world, as the Cold War ended after 40 bitter years, the Communist empire broke up, and the Berlin Wall fell. The Soviet Union ceased to exist; and reformist President Mikhail Gorbachev, whom Bush had supported, resigned. In foreign policy, President Bush's greatest test came when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, then threatened to move into Saudi Arabia. The U.N. Security Council approved the use of force by U.N. member states if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. War broke out less than 24 hours after the U.N. deadline. The United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait succeeded in liberating Kuwait. At home, Americans faced some deep and familiar problems as the United States again found itself in recession.

In 1992, voters elected Bill Clinton, a Democrat, president. Clinton and his Vice-President, Senator Albert Gore Jr., represented a new generation in American political leadership. For the first time in 12 years both the White House and Congress were held by the same party. But in 1998, as a result of issues surrounding personal indiscretions with a young woman White House intern, Clinton was the second U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He was tried in the Senate and found not guilty of the charges brought against him.

George W. Bush became the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn into office on January 20, 2001 after one of the most tightly contested presidential campaigns in U.S. history.

Bush expected to focus on domestic issues such as education, the economy, and Social Security. But his presidency changed irrevocably on September 11, 2001, when the United States suffered the most devastating foreign attack ever against its mainland. That morning, Middle Eastern terrorists simultaneously hijacked four passenger airplanes and used two of them as suicide vehicles to destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A third crashed into the Pentagon building. The fourth, probably meant for the U.S. Capitol, crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside as passengers fought the hijackers. The death toll, most of it consisting of civilians at the World Trade Center, was approximately 3,000, which is more than that of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The world community confronted the threat posed by global terrorism with an unprecedented worldwide coalition. The North Atlantic Council invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, thereby classifying the 9/11 terrorist attacks as an attack on all member states, and pledged any necessary assistance. The United States attributed responsibility for 9/11 to Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization. A full-scale campaign was launched against Al Qaeda and its affiliates and support structures. A total of 136 countries offered a range of military assistance to the United States. As a result of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Taliban was removed from power and the first elections in more than 40 years took place in Afghanistan.

In September 2002, President Bush warned Iraq that unless it fully cooperated with United Nations weapons inspectors, the United States would lead a coalition to ensure disarmament and to eliminate the possibility for it to transfer weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to terrorist groups. In March 2003, the United States and a coalition of 30 countries launched “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” a war effort to disarm Iraq and change its regime. The Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein fell on April 9, 2003.

To coordinate the fight against domestic terrorist attack, the Bush administration introduced new laws under the USA Patriot Act, which broadened the search, seizure, and detention powers of the federal government. A new Department of Homeland Security, which consolidated 22 federal agencies, was also established.

By 2004, with the United States facing a violent insurgency in Iraq and considerable foreign opposition to the war there, the country appeared as sharply divided as it had been four years earlier. To challenge President Bush, the Democrats nominated Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in that year's election. Bush won by 51 percent to 48 percent, with the remaining 1 percent going to a number of other independent candidates. President Bush was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2005. His administration continued to face many challenges.

Global terrorism remains a serious threat. There are important challenges to be faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the full impact of globalization is making itself felt in full force. The U.S. economy is becoming a fast-moving, innovative and novel economy -- and Americans are having to adjust to these changes. There are increasing numbers of older Americans who are facing the economic [income, job and pension] and health consequences of a 21st century economy. There is also a need to shift to new forms of energy and accompanying technologies.

The long-term effects of events and trends occurring at the beginning of the 21st century have yet to be fully understood. In the past, the United States has thrived on such challenges. From its origins as a set of obscure colonies hugging the Atlantic coast, the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation into what political analyst Ben Wattenberg has called "the first universal nation," a population of almost 300 million people representing virtually every nationality and ethnic group on the globe. It is also a nation where the pace and extent of change – economic, technological, cultural, demographic, and social – is unceasing. The United States is often the harbinger of the modernization and change that inevitably sweep up other nations and societies in an increasingly interdependent, interconnected world.