End of the Cold War
When protecting the nation against perceived threats, the government has the responsibility to consider the opinion of its citizens and of other nations and parties involved in its international relations.
Context
The right of the people to protest and contest government decisions is crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship between the governing power and the governed. In the U.S., freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble drives economic, social, and political change. In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, increased freedom of religion and freedom of speech led to the rapid overthrow and replacement of communist leaders with democratic governments.
Ideological In addition to the freedom of religion and the respect of the establishment of religion, the 1st Amendment to the United States
Constitution protects the freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and our right to peacefully assemble. As an American tradition, peaceful protest is highly valued and highly effective, not only in practice but also because the repression of this freedom can cause governments to lose face. Both government’s repression and acknowledgment of protests in the labor union movement, antislavery movement, women’s suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement has had a direct impact on the organization of social, economic, and political reform. Our right to speak out is crucial to the dynamic relationship between the government and the people in a democracy. Without it, government fails to uphold its responsibility to consider the opinion of its citizens. |
Political Prior to 1989, the Soviet Union’s iron-fisted government kept the peoples of the Eastern bloc from overthrowing communist leaders. However, the new Soviet method of “perestroika,” or restructuring, allowed for increased freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Also, as the centralized control of the Soviet Union began to collapse and its economy entered stagnation, Soviet forces were withdrawn from Eastern Europe. The removal of Soviet forces and increased political dissent allowed for the swift replacement of communism with various independent democracies in what were known as the Velvet Revolutions.
These revolutions illustrated how governing bodies can only remain in power by either exercising complete control over the population, which is nearly impossible, or by more democratic means of continually taking public opinion or dissent into consideration. The inability of the Soviet Union’s communist government to exercise complete control over populations in the Eastern bloc led to increased political dissent, which in turn allowed revolutions to institute democratic governments. |
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Economic In 1990, the U.S. economy experienced a recession in part caused by a fall in production demand at the close of the Cold War. Americans found themselves struggling to repay the large sums of money they had borrowed during the 1980s. Similarly, the government had borrowed money—sometimes from its own programs—to pay for other programs, which necessitated an increase in taxes. Americans’ disapproval with the actions of the government during the recession led to the rise of “New Democrats,” the group that the next elected president, Clinton, hailed from. In the 1992 presidential election, Americans’ dissatisfaction with both the right and left wings allowed for the strongest independent party bid for the presidency since 1912, a bid garnering 19% of the popular vote. Displeasure with government gridlock in the face of the slowing U.S. economy caused candidates of the 1992 presidential election to focus on assuaging voters’ concerns about the economy, again illustrating the need for the government to take consideration of public opinion in its actions.
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Historical Connections
Maintaining healthy communications with nations involved in its international dealings and groups involved on the domestic front has been key throughout the history of the U.S. As the U.S. adopted its modern role as a World Power, its consideration for the economies of other countries gave it bargaining leverage, and its lack of consideration for other countries led to the Spanish-American war, the Philippine-American war, and conflicts with Hawaii. During the Progressive Era, the government’s consideration of public outcry and of the exposing material in the media was key to new laws aiding social and economic reform.
World War I was sparked by an act of the repressed Serbs, a nationality within the fading Austrian-Hungarian empire. In the 1920s America, a nearly senseless fear of communism took hold, and during the Great Depression and New Deal era, the government struggled to balance aiding the economy and the needy with protecting the rights of businesses and individuals, which required extensive consideration of the wishes of all involved.
World War I was sparked by an act of the repressed Serbs, a nationality within the fading Austrian-Hungarian empire. In the 1920s America, a nearly senseless fear of communism took hold, and during the Great Depression and New Deal era, the government struggled to balance aiding the economy and the needy with protecting the rights of businesses and individuals, which required extensive consideration of the wishes of all involved.
U.S. as a World Power
As it grew into its role as a World Power, the United States asserted its international power in the economic and political affairs of other countries. Often, it considered the economic needs and benefits of others countries to establish peaceful relations. With the Treaty of Kanagawa as early as 1858, the U.S. agreed to maintain peaceful relations and trade with Japan. In 1889, a conference was held in Washington D.C. to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin American nations. The result of this conference, in the start of the “Pan-Americanism” movement, was the establishment of an organization known today as the Organization of American States.
However, the U.S. also used the economic needs of other nations solely as leverage in international dealings. In the then-independent Hawaii, a tariff treaty allowed sugar plantations to flourish on the islands. As tensions rose between American planters on the island and native Hawaiians, the U.S. government subsidized continental American sugar, which lead the demand for the more expensive Hawaiian sugar to fall. To end the economic arm-wrestling, the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898.
During the Spanish-American war, the U.S. talked with Spain in attempts to negotiate an end to the violent Spanish regime in Cuba. Conversely, the violence continued, and the Spanish sank the USS Maine in Cuban waters. The U.S. declared war on Spain, and directed military efforts to seizing Spanish colonies, eventually gaining control over the Philippines and Guam. In the subsequent Philippine-American war, the Philippines fought to secure independence from the U.S., which it eventually granted. Too often, the U.S.’s lack of consideration of the opinion of other nations and parties involved in its international relations led to prolonged, bloody conflicts.
However, the U.S. also used the economic needs of other nations solely as leverage in international dealings. In the then-independent Hawaii, a tariff treaty allowed sugar plantations to flourish on the islands. As tensions rose between American planters on the island and native Hawaiians, the U.S. government subsidized continental American sugar, which lead the demand for the more expensive Hawaiian sugar to fall. To end the economic arm-wrestling, the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898.
During the Spanish-American war, the U.S. talked with Spain in attempts to negotiate an end to the violent Spanish regime in Cuba. Conversely, the violence continued, and the Spanish sank the USS Maine in Cuban waters. The U.S. declared war on Spain, and directed military efforts to seizing Spanish colonies, eventually gaining control over the Philippines and Guam. In the subsequent Philippine-American war, the Philippines fought to secure independence from the U.S., which it eventually granted. Too often, the U.S.’s lack of consideration of the opinion of other nations and parties involved in its international relations led to prolonged, bloody conflicts.
Progressive Era During the social upheaval of the Progressive Era, muckrakers raised awareness for social issues, stimulating calls for reform. Muckraker John Spargo’s “The Bitter Cry of the Children” exposed the atrocities of child labor, instigating state laws for minimum age and other child labor laws like maximum child work hours. Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” increased public concern for food packaging cleanliness,
which led to Roosevelt and Congress passing the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Suffragette lobbying and the civil disobedience of the National American Suffrage Association and the National Woman’s Party eventually produced the 19th Amendment. Conclusively, the government listening to public outcry and the exposing information provided by literature and the media caused it to address dire social problems, such as women’s rights and children’s rights, and the necessity for food purity and cleanliness. |
World War I Prior to World War I, Austria-Hungary was a fading empire, struggling to control the myriad of nationalities within its borders for fear of being deposed. One of these groups, the Southern Slavs, maintained the dream of having a country of their own. Austria-Hungary’s harsh suppression of the Slavs led to the rise of the Serbian terrorist group the “Black Hand.” In June of 1914, the Black Hand carried out the assassination of Austrian archduke Ferdinand, plunging Europe into WWI.
Austria-Hungary’s lack of consideration for the perceived threat of the Serbs ultimately led to the formation of the Black Hand and the assassination of archduke Ferdinand, which might have been avoided if the government had in fact given some consideration to the dissatisfied nationalities it governed. |
Roaring '20s During the Roaring '20s, one of America’s greatest fears was xenophobia, the fear of foreign people and cultures. Massive strikes in 1919, continuing into the 1920s, gave rise to the idea that socialists were attempting to take over the U.S. When communists seized power in Russia, this fear grew to encompass all of communism, and
“communist” became synonymous with “traitor.” In what was known as the [First] Red Scare, nationwide panic of a communist takeover spread like wildfire after eight bombs exploded within eight minutes of each other in cities across the county. Aside from communism, Americans also feared the influx of immigration. The Ku Klux Klan resurged against immigrants, and Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, which allowed the equivalent of only 3% of the population of any given ethnic group within the U.S. to enter the county. Later, congress passed the National Origins Act, which allowed only 2% of ethnic populations to immigrate. This xenophobia took hold in the 1920s, and would continue throughout the Cold War. Americans feared outsiders and their ideals, as well as foreign cultures. Fear of communism began with its association with betrayal and links to the perceived socialist nature of strikes, a fear that would create conflicts and tensions between communist countries and the U.S. that still remain today. |
Great Depression & New Deal Era During the Great Depression, the U.S. government struggled to balance the rights of businesses in a free market economy and the demands of the populace struggling to find food, homes, and work, fearing that the economy would never recover. The Social Security Act laid out a new role for the government as an entity helping those who, through no fault of their own, could not support themselves. It provided welfare for the disabled, mothers with dependent children, and the unemployed looking for work. The Emergency Banking Relief Act closed or reorganized insolvent banks and gave licenses to financially sound ones. The National Labor Relations Board limited the power of big business by protecting the rights of employees to organize and unionize. The National Recovery Administration regulated business by setting prices and a minimum wage, and by limiting factories to two shifts in an effort to create more jobs. Despite of the benefits to workers, employers complained, and business production actually fell. The change brought by the New Deal revealed how the government must take constant input from businesses and the people in order to balance aiding the economy with the rights of individuals and businesses.
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Specific Events
From Europe to Asia to the Middle East, government’s consideration for the opinion of the public and of other nations involved in international dealings is crucial, even in the face of perceived threats to national security. In Europe, failure to consider the dissent of the public caused rapid revolutions. Similarly, in Asia it caused the collapse of the USSR. In China, it caused the massacre of hundreds of people. In the Middle East, it caused the U.S. to intervene between Iraq and Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War.
Velvet Revolutions Preceding the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1989, Soviet forces were withdrawn from Eastern Europe as the economy slowed and the centralized government began to crumble from the inside out. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev instituted “perestroika” (restructuring) and “glasnost” (openness) in an attempt to allow the economy to rebound and for the people to regain trust in their government. These methods allowed for increased freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Increased freedom of speech throughout the periphery of the Soviet Union allowed for increased political dissent, and swift revolutions in the Eastern bloc replaced communist leaders with democratic governments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, which had been a symbol of Soviet control, East and West Germany were united into the Federal Republic of Germany.
When perestroika and glasnost finally allowed subjugated peoples to speak out against the Soviet Union, they threw off communist rule and instituted democracies, a form of government that would continually allow them to act through and structure government according to their wishes. |
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Collapse of the Soviet Union During the 1980s, the central planning and allocation of raw materials that had effectively given rise to an expanding economy also caused its slowing and eventual stagnation. The policy of glasnost increased the amount of information divulged by the government, which caused an increased questioning of the government by the public. In addition, Soviet forces were defeated in their attempt to take over Afghanistan, and in 1989 the Soviet Union collapsed. The communist regime of the country had not been able to insulate itself against all the "threats" of capitalism and democracy, so when it allowed the shadow of both to enter the system, it collapsed, unable to balance the two with communism and socialism. Increased opportunity for the public to dissent, as well as increased lack of consideration for the wishes of other nations in its international dealings, led to the collapse of a system that was inherently defunct and too massive to be reformed.
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Tiananmen Square During May of 1989, when hunger strikes and protests rocked Tiananmen Square in the capital city of Beijing, most of the world predicted that China would experience an overthrow of communism just as countries in the Eastern bloc had. Thousands of students
gathered in the square to protest against the inefficiency and corruption of the communist government of China, calling for democratic reforms. Then, on the night of June 3 and into June 4, soldiers and tanks moved into the square and open fired on the protestors, shooting and killing hundreds. In following weeks, many were arrested and jailed; some were sentenced to death. Worldwide, diplomatic and economic sanctions were imposed against China. The Chinese government claimed that it had merely taken defensive action against “counterrevolutionary rebellion.” Even today, the Tiananmen Square massacre and death toll goes unrecognized by the Chinese government. Events in the square are not taught in schools, and commemorating the June 4 crackdown is banned in all territories except one. This year, in the weeks leading up to the 25th anniversary of the massacre, many liberal activists and those who openly speak out against the government have been detained or put under house arrest. The government has crushed a group called the New Citizens Movement, which is dedicated to exposing government corruption and calling attention to injustices like Tiananmen Square. The Tiananmen Square massacre served and continues to serve as a reminder that the party government in China is unstable. It continues to suppress calls for reform in the education system and the institution of a more democratic government, perceiving both as major threats, setting an example for the negative impacts of suppression of dissent and the lack of communication between a government and its people. |
Persian Gulf War In August of 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent the Iraq army to invade the neighboring oil-rich Kuwait, taking over the nation’s oil fields. Soon after the invasion, Hussein proclaimed the annexation of Kuwait. In response to the violent take-over, the United Nations declared the annexation void and instituted a naval blockade and trade embargo against Iraq, the latter of which was joined by forty-two other countries, including the U.S.
U.N. and American diplomats set the deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait for January 15, 1991, which passed by ignored. Consequently, the U.S. asked the U.N.’s permission to use military force against Iraq, which was granted. U.S. troops quickly took position in Saudi Arabia and were joined by a coalition of U.N. forces. In Operation Desert Storm, commencing on January 17, the coalition of forces liberated Kuwait. Iraq accepted the cease-fire terms, and U.S. chose not to capture Saddam Hussein, fearing that a civil war would break out between the divided groups of Iraq, the Kurds and the Shi’ites, if the dictator were removed. Intervention in the conflict was largely supported by the American public, and justified by permission of the U.N. In a nation-wide survey, President Bush’s approval rating stood at 86%, reaching the approval mark for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s actions after Pearl Harbor. The survey found that 79% of Americans felt the invasion of Iraq was justified, and another survey found that 77% were “proud” of the role the U.S. played in the war. Levels of public support were closely monitored and published by the media, informing the government where public opinion stood. The U.S. had considered the wishes of Saudi Arabia and the U.N., seeking approval before intervening in Iraq and Kuwait, and had at least granted Iraq a chance for absolution by working with the U.N. to set a deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal, arguably justifying the Persian Gulf War as much as a war could possibly be justified. |
Current Significance
Protests, uprisings, and international crises today reflect the exceptional importance of governments taking consideration for the opinion of the people governed, and for the opinion of other nations involved in international dealings, even when confronted with being ousted.
Aftermath of Arab Spring
Beginning in 2010, “Arab Spring” encompassed a series of anti-government upheavals across Northern Africa and the Middle East that offered a glimmer of hope that the backwards customs pervading various governments would end. The relative success of these upheavals is widely debated.
In Libya, chaos reigns after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, and a former military general Khalifa Hiftav has led an attack on the General National Congress, killing two and injuring many more. In Egypt, newly elected President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, a former field marshal, is struggling to ensure a stable future for the county in the wake of the nation’s very prolonged and violent revolution. In Iraq, retrograde laws—such as one to lower the legal marrying age for women from 18 to 9 years—are being debated in Parliament. In Iran, conservative leaders are doing their best to embarrass liberal President Hassan Rouhani, and the government has blocked all social networking sites. Uprisings and armed rebellions against dictatorships have left political, economic, and social turmoil raging in half a dozen countries. This turmoil is intensified by a lack of communication between governments and people, people and governments, revolutionaries and governments, and revolutionaries and the people. |
Ukraine Crisis
Instigating the crisis in Ukraine, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych backed out of a free-trade deal with the European Union in favor of economic agreements with Russia. Over a quarter million people rioted in the capital, Kiev, protesting Yanukovych’s decision. The protestors knocked down and decapitated a statue of Lenin, calling for the president to be ousted.
He was removed in February 2014, and an April poll found that only 4.9% of the respondents desired his return to office. The crisis continues, exacerbated by the fact that a major political divide exists within Ukraine: the industrial eastern Ukraine is mostly Russian and Russian-speaking, while the western Ukraine is almost entirely Ukraine and speaks Ukrainian. Western Ukraine favors the E.U. agreement, while eastern Ukraine favors closer ties with Russia. In the face of the threat of Russia’s reaction, the crisis has largely been caused by the failure of the Ukraine government to act based on consideration of the significantly different objectives of two major groups within the county. |
U.S. and Russia Today
". . . 71% of Russians view the United States "badly" or "very badly" — the highest in more than 20 years, with more positive attitudes registered during the Soviet era."
-- Anna Arutanyan, USA TODAY, in "Anti- American Sentiment Growing in Russia" |