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Contemporary Global Issues: Reading Essentials and Study Guide: Lesson 1

Reading Essentials and Study Guide

Contemporary Global Issues

Lesson 1 Political Challenges in the Modern World

ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What influences global political and economic relationships?

Reading HELPDESK
Content Vocabulary
peacekeeping forces military forces drawn from neutral members of the United Nations to settle
conflicts and supervise truces
nuclear proliferation the spread of nuclear weapons production technology and knowledge to
nations without that capability
bioterrorism the use of biological and chemical weapons in terrorist attacks

Academic Vocabulary
chemical used in or produced by chemistry
drama state of intense conflict
arbitrarily at one’s discretion; randomly

TAKING NOTES: Summarizing

1. ACTIVITY As you read, use the table below to identify important political events that have
occurred in modern Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

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Contemporary Global Issues: Reading Essentials and Study Guide: Lesson 1

IT MATTERS BECAUSE
In today’s world, problems in one part of the world can affect people all over the globe.
Terrorism, civil war, and ethnic conflict are some of the most difficult political challenges in the
modern world.

The United Nations

GUIDING QUESTION What are the structure and goals of the United Nations?

In recent decades, many nations have realized that some problems can be solved only by working
with other nations. Today, the United Nations (UN) is a visible symbol of the new globalism. That
is, the UN stands for worldwide concerns. The UN was founded in 1945 at the end of World War II.
Two of the UN’s goals are peace and human dignity. Its members pledge, or formally promise, to
work to avoid war, to defend human rights, and to promote better standards of life.

The General Assembly of the United Nations is made up of representatives from all member nations.
The General Assembly can discuss any important questions, and it can recommend action. The
Security Council advises the General Assembly. It passes resolutions that require the organization
to act. Five nations have permanent seats on the Security Council. These include the United
States, Russia, Great Britain, France, and China. Ten other members are chosen by the General
Assembly. These members serve for limited terms. Each permanent member can veto, or reject, a
decision. As a result, deliberations, or formal discussions, can often end in stalemate. This means
that no action can be taken. The UN Secretariat is an administrative body. The secretary-general
heads the UN Secretariat. The International Court of Justice (World Court) is the judicial body of
the UN.

UN programs and specialized agencies work to address economic and social problems. The UN
organizes conferences. They discuss important issues such as women’s rights and the environment.
The UN has also provided peacekeeping forces. These military forces from different countries
work together to settle conflicts and supervise truces in "hot spots" around the globe.

PROGRESS CHECK
2. Contrasting How do the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council differ?

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International Security
GUIDING QUESTION What international security issues confront the post-Cold War world?

The UN and nations around the world face many challenges in the effort to provide security and
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Contemporary Global Issues: Reading Essentials and Study Guide: Lesson 1

maintain peace.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Modern technology has led to frightening methods of mass destruction. These include nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons. The end of the Cold War reduced the risk of nuclear conflict
between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, nuclear weapons still exist. As a result,
nuclear conflict remains possible.

The UN established the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1957. This agency operates
a safeguard system against nuclear proliferation. The agency works to stop the spread of the
knowledge and technology to produce nuclear weapons. Countries that have not joined or have
violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) pose a great risk. India, Pakistan, Israel, and
North Korea have not joined the NPT. Iran has violated the NPT. In 1998 India and Pakistan
exploded nuclear devices underground. North Korea performed its first nuclear test in October
2006. Iran refused to give up its nuclear enrichment program.

Since 2000, the awareness of the threat from biological and chemical weapons has increased.
Biowarfare is the use of disease and poison against civilians and soldiers in wartime. This threat is
not new. Chemical weapons were used frequently in World War I and in the Iran-Iraq war in the
1980s. Governments have made agreements to limit the research, production, and use of weapons
of mass destruction. However, these agreements are hard to enforce. Also, they have not stopped
terrorists from practicing bioterrorism. This is the name for the use of biological and chemical
weapons in terrorist attacks.

The Challenge of Terrorism

Acts of terrorism have become part of modern society. Terrorism is the use of violent acts, such as
bombings, by a group to achieve its goals. Terrorists often take hostages and kill civilians to
achieve their political goals. Concern about terrorism have been at the top of the foreign policy
agendas of many countries in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Terrorist acts have received a great
deal of attention in the news. Palestinian terrorists kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes at the
Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Hundreds of millions of people watched the drama on television.

Some terrorists are militant nationalists. They want separate states. For example, the Irish
Republican Army (IRA) wants Northern Ireland to be part of the Irish Republic. Today, IRA leaders
seem more willing to have normal relations with the police of Northern Ireland after decades of
violence. The Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) group wants the Basque region in the western
Pyrenees to be free from Spanish control. The ETA uses violence to reach this goal.

In Peru, a radical Communist guerrilla group called Shining Path used terrorist violence. The Shining
Path wanted to create a classless society. To reach that goal, members killed mayors,
missionaries, priests, and peasants across Peru.

On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced one of the most destructive acts of
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terrorism. Al-Qaeda terrorists directed by Osama bin Laden were responsible. They hijacked four
commercial jets in Boston, Newark (New Jersey), and Washington, D.C. These planes were used as
weapons to attack the World Trade Center (New York City) and the Pentagon buildings
(Washington, D.C.). Almost 3,000 people were killed. In response, President George W. Bush
promised to fight a war on terrorism. The United States and its allies began the “war on terror” in
October 2001. They started it with military action against Afghanistan. President Barack Obama
announced a major U.S. victory against al-Qaeda in 2011. U.S. forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan.

As a result of the events of September 11, public policy has changed worldwide. Most noticeable is
increased airport security. Many European and Asian governments have also begun working more
closely together. They share intelligence and work together activities to track down terrorists.

Challenges in the Middle East

The war on terrorism spread to the Middle East in March 2003. The United States attacked Iraq.
President Bush claimed that Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, had chemical and biological weapons of
mass destruction. President Bush also said that Saddam had close ties to al-Qaeda. Both claims
turned out to be mistaken. As a result, the United States was stuck in a long-term war in Iraq.
Hussein’s supporters, foreign terrorists, and Islamic militants all battled the American­led forces.

Iraq seemed to be entering into a widespread civil war by 2006. The Shia Muslims who controlled
southern Iraq fought the Sunni Muslims who controlled central Iraq. An American troop surge in
2007 helped stabilize conditions within a year. The U.S. and Iraqi governments then agreed to a
complete withdrawal of American troops by 2011. President Obama reaffirmed that goal after taking
office.

Terrorism in the Middle East is largely aimed at the West. Middle Eastern terrorists have targeted
Westerners in response to Western investment in the oil industry. This investment began in the
1920s. The ruling families of some Middle Eastern kingdoms greatly benefited from the oil industry
and trade. However, most Middle Eastern citizens remained very poor. These people often blamed
the West, especially the United States, for supporting the ruling families.

The oil business also increased Middle Eastern contact with Western culture. Some Muslims feared
that this contact would weaken their religion and way of life. Some Muslims began organizations to
overthrow their pro-Western governments. Muslims who support these organizations are called
fundamentalist militants. They promote their own vision, or idea, of a pure Islamic society. Most
Muslims do not share this vision or support the use of terrorism.

PROGRESS CHECK

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Contemporary Global Issues: Reading Essentials and Study Guide: Lesson 1

3. Determining Cause and Effect How have governments responded to terrorism since September 11,
2001?

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Civil War, Ethnic Conflict, and New Democracies

GUIDING QUESTIONS How have civil war, ethnic conflict, and genocide affected some nations in
the post-Cold War period, and how have governments and nongovernmental organizations
responded to them? Where have new democracies emerged in the late twentieth and early twenty-
first centuries?

Ethnic and religious conflicts often lead to civil war. Both have troubled developing and developed
nations around the world. In Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics have frequently clashed.
In the 1990s, the Serbs used ethnic cleansing— the killing or forced removal of people because of
their ethnic background. They killed Bosnian Muslims during the war in Bosnia. Cyprus achieved
independence. Then fighting broke out between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots (people who
were born or raised in Cyprus). As a result, the island has been divided.

Regional, ethnic, and religious conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s have led to the creation of new
countries. Some of these new countries have fledgling, or new, democracies. Several states of the
former Yugoslavia and East Timor became independent democratic states in recent years.

Africa
In many African nations, ethnic groups fought violently, and the fighting weakened the nations.
The divisions are not surprising. The colonial powers had arbitrarily drawn the boundaries of
African nations. The African states included widely different ethnic, linguistic, and territorial
groups. In central Africa, fighting between the Hutu and the Tutsi created unstable governments.
Brutal civil war broke out in 1994 in Rwanda. Hutu militias began a campaign of genocide (the killing
of an entire group of people) against Tutsis. At least 500,000 Tutsis were murdered. Thousands of
Rwandan refugees died in camps. In response, the United States began a relief operation with the
UN. A UN-sponsored war crimes tribunal, or court of justice, began in Tanzania in 1997. In 1998
the tribunal sentenced the former prime minister of Rwanda to life imprisonment. He was charged
with attempting genocide.

Ethnic violence also troubled Sudan, Africa’s largest nation. In the western province of Darfur, Arab
militias attacked African ethnic groups. These militias had the support of the Arab-led government.
Entire villages were burned. More than 200,000 people died, and more than 2 million people left
their homes. The African Union struggled to maintain peace. The UN took over the difficult
peacekeeping operation at the end of 2007. In 2008 the International Criminal Court issued an
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order to arrest the Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. He was wanted for genocide, war
crimes, and crimes against humanity. In 2011 southern Sudan voted to become independent from
the north in a referendum.

Desire for more democratic government led to a series of protests in Egypt and surrounding
countries in 2011. Protesters demanded that Egyptian president Mubarak step down. They were
working to end autocratic rule. After days of continued protests, Mubarak resigned.

Asia
Several areas in Asia and Southeast Asia experienced ethnic and religious conflict. Tibet, East
Timor, and Sri Lanka all suffered as a result of such conflict. Tibet seeks its independence from the
Chinese government. The Chinese government has suppressed, or stopped by force, opposition
among ethnic minorities there. The Dalai Lama led the government of Tibet in exile from India after
1959. He stepped down in 2011.

In 1999 the people of East Timor voted to become free of Indonesian rule. Violence between
Christians and Muslims on the island followed. Nearly 10,000 people died in the conflict. East Timor
(Timor-Leste) was internationally recognized as an independent country in 2002. With the help of
the UN, East Timor held mostly peaceful democratic elections in 2007.

Tension and violence has affected Sri Lanka since 1993. The majority Sinhalese, who are mostly
Buddhist, lead the government. The minority Tamils, who are mostly Hindu, have fought them for
control of Sri Lanka. A 2002 ceasefire, or pause in fighting, halted the violence temporarily. There
was a return of violence in 2008. The military conflict ended in 2010.

Latin America
In recent years, democracy has begun to flourish in Latin America. Latin America faced an
enormous debt crisis in the 1980s. People began to realize that military power without popular
consent (approval of the people) could not maintain a strong state. As a result, a movement
toward democracy began.

In Brazil, military leadership opened the door to a return to democracy in 1985. In the 1990s,
democratic presidents restored some stability to the economy. Even so, the gap, or division,
between rich and poor remained wide. This gap led to the election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in
2002. He was Brazil’s first left­wing president in four decades. He was successful in promoting fast
economic growth.

A series of military dictators ruled Venezuela during the first half of the twentieth century. Hugo
Chavez opposed the military government. As a result, he became a hero to the Venezuelan people.
In 1998, he was elected president in a landslide victory. He was reelected in 2006. In 2007 Chavez
began to nationalize energy and communications firms. As a result, foreign influence in Venezuela’s
economy was reduced. Critics say that he has taken away the freedom of the press.

PROGRESS CHECK

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Contemporary Global Issues: Reading Essentials and Study Guide: Lesson 1

4. Explaining How did governments and international organizations respond to the conflicts in Rwanda
and Darfur?

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Answer Key

1. Africa: Rwandan genocide, ethnic violence in Sudan. Asia: suppression of dissent in Tibet, North Korea
tests nuclear weapons. Latin America: Brazil returns to democracy, Hugo Chavez nationalizes
industries, Shining Path uses terrorism in Peru.

2. General Assembly includes all members, discusses global issues and solutions. The UN Security Council
includes 5 members with veto power and 10 rotating members.

3. Increased security at airports and increased cooperation among national intelligence agencies and police
forces.

4. Rwanda: The U.S. and UN started relief operations to help refugees, and they prosecuted war crimes;
Darfur: The AU and then the UN started peacekeeping operations; the International Criminal Court
prosecuted war crimes.

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