The Contemporary Era, 1973 to the Present

The WestThe West

CHAPTER 29

Economic Crisis and Its Consequences in the West• Stagflation - a combination of high inflation and

high unemployment, fueled by high oil prices, deregulation of the world economy, and international competition

• Resurgence of industrial and racial conflict• Emergence of “New Conservatism” ended

consensus politics• New political culture that tolerated lower

economic growth and higher unemployment

From Detente to Renewed Cold War, 1975-1985

• Rising concern, in the West, about Soviet violations of human rights

• The arms race accelerated again• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 1979,

ended the era of detente• New Conservative leaders, like Reagan and

Thatcher, revived anticommunist rhetoric and attitudes

New Challenges and New Identities in the West

• “New feminism” connected New Left analyses of political subordination with sexual repression

• Feminist critique focused on the female body and female stereotypes

• Emergence of radical environmentalism that challenged the fundamental structure of industrial economies

The Crisis of Legitimacy in the East

• Soviet economy was too rigid and overcentralized and, by the 1980s, faced economic crisis

• Economic hardship across Eastern Europe fostered desire for radical political change

• Environmental activism, in the Soviet Union, fueled nationalist protest and weakened the communist structure

Gorbachev and Radical Reform

• Gorbachev came to power convinced that the Soviet system required radical reforms

• Glasnost - abandoned state censorship and deception

• Perestroika - economic modernization and decentralization

• The success of economic perestroika depended upon political reforms

A New International Order

• Gorbachev concluded that the Soviet Union could no longer afford the Cold War and its empire in Eastern Europe

• Resumption of arms control and reduction of Soviet military commitments

• Collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe, 1989-1990

• Reunification of Germany

The Disintegration of the Soviet Union

• Gorbachev hoped his reforms would preserve the communist system

• Gorbachev faced opposition from communist hard-liners and liberal reformers

• Gorbachev survived an attempted coup, but could not prevent nationalist movements’ breaking apart the Soviet Union

The Return of History in Russia and Eastern Europe• Sudden introduction of capitalism in Russia led to

economic collapse and emergence of criminal syndicates

• Economic and political instability across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics fostered nationalism, anti-Semitism and racial violence

• By the late 1990s, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Baltic states were emerging successfully from the transition to capitalism and political pluralism

The Breakup of Yugoslavia

• Under economic pressure, the Yugoslav federal system collapsed

• End of communism removed the unifying ideology of Yugoslavia

• Ethnic nationalism boiled over into civil war and state-sanctioned mass murder

• First ever combat action by NATO was taken to end this cycle of violence

Old and New Enemies

• Identification of Islamic terrorism as the antithesis and enemy of the West

• Fueled by continued Arab-Israeli conflict, emergence of militant, anti-Western form of Islam and the oil crisis

• 9/11 attacks on the US reinforced a simplistic identification of a Western “Us” in conflict with an Islamic “Them” and accelerated US military expansion

The European Union

• Development of the EEC into the European Union, promoting greater political, economic and cultural unity

• European identity promoted market capitalism and democracy

• Split within Europe over the Second Gulf War inhibited greater unity on military and foreign policy

Culture and Society in the Postmodern Era

• Postmodernist thought emphasized the abandonment of universal truths and meanings, and challenged traditional authorities and structures

• Developments in popular culture, information and medical technologies appeared to reflect postmodern ideas

• Christianity declined as a common cultural bond in the West

The Global Challenge

• Acceleration of the globalization of economic production

• Increasing importance of financial markets, the IMF and the World Bank, in determining national economies

• Widening gap between the “North” and the “South”

• Increased concern over environmental damage• New divisions between Europe and the US

Where is the West Now?

• The globalization of Western culture and ideas may mean the “West” is no longer defined by a significant conceptual border

• Fundamental differences remain between the “West” and the “East”

• The most significant divide in the world now separates the “North” from the “South”