RSS
Home
How the world fell apart since the fall of the Berlin Wall
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. At the time, it appeared the world was heading toward global peace and prosperity. Economies boomed as the evil empire expired. The Soviet Union completely dissolved. Despite the hope and euphoria brought forth by the end of communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world fractured. This process began in the 1990s, but no one really noticed until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Communism’s demise left America the lone superpower. Many people feared this in America and around the world. Additionally, America missed several opportunities to change this course. The end result was a fractured world.
In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. This violated the post-World War II prohibition on offensive wars of conquest. In early 1991, President George H.W. Bush led a coalition that forcibly removed Iraq. A few months later, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The contrast between the two former rivals could not be more striking. The United States fought one of the most modern and efficient wars in history. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union collapsed entirely underneath its own weight and backwardness. Soviet and Eastern European economics derived from the nineteenth century and their technology was barely out of the sixties.
The fall of communism brought new challenges. Like the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia broke up into its component parts. Yugoslavian constituent ethnic groups broke apart and centuries old hatreds unleashed. The Balkans exploded and Europe feared being drawn into another world war. Concentration camps appeared and murder followed. President Bush demanded action, but backed down when heavy criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Governor Bill Clinton and the American public demanded action at home as opposed to abroad. Ironically, President Clinton moved in to stop the conflict and ethnic cleansing.
As the Balkans burned, the Middle East simmered. Osama Bin Laden stewed over the American presence in Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden despised the fact the infidel walked on Islam’s sacred soil. As a result, his organization, El Queda, began launching attacks on American interests. In 1993, they targeted the World Trade Center. In 1996, El Queda bombed the Khobar Towers building in Saudi Arabia which housed American military personnel. Two years later, hundreds died when they struck the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2000, Bin Laden struck the USS Cole.
The American government lacked a proper response to these attacks. Generally, the Clinton Administration treated the incidents as criminal matters. Bin Laden made it onto the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List as he declared war on America. After the embassy bombings, Clinton launched cruise missiles against targets in Afghanistan and the Sudan. America ended up striking an aspirin factory. The media mocked the scandal-ridden president and accused him of attempting to deflect attention from the Lewinsky Scandal. Clinton later bombed Iraq and Saddam Hussein called the weapons, “Monica bombs.”
Clinton scandals cost Al Gore the 2000 Presidential Election. Gore did not know how to handle Clinton. With a booming economy and peace, Gore should have won the election going away. Instead, the election went into overtime. George W. Bush finally emerged the victor. The election made America look foolish and weak.
After 911, Bush launched an aggressive campaign to weed out Islamic terrorists. Most of the world worried about American intentions. While most supported action in Afghanistan, many opposed the invasion of Iraq. Saddam violated the 1991 cease fire agreement and that justified the invasion. However, American liberals and people around the world went berserk. America bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result of administration mistakes and the antiwar movement vitalized insurgents. Eventually, Iraq settled down. However, Afghanistan remains a problem that neither the Obama Administration nor NATO want to deal with.
War, terror, and international opinion were not Bush’s only problem. During his first term, he attempted to fix a problem left over from his predecessor. Banks were ordered to provide low income families with home loans. These people could not pay those loans back. Several members of congress, including Barack Obama, blocked reform. These institutions provided these members with campaign contributions. The end result was an economic meltdown in 2008. Ironically, the meltdown helped elect Obama. Despite this fact, the worldwide economy remains troubled and could get worse.
China also threatened the American economy. Throughout the last two decades, China has bought up as much American currency as possible. Additionally, it has reformed its economy and began building a state of the art military. Also, China and Russia have reached a detente. The Russians have been flexing their muscles in an attempt to return to their former super power status. Meanwhile, North Korea and Iran have worked on a nuclear weapons program. Some of these actions were responses to American power while others probably would have happened regardless. However, the world in 2009 is much more dangerous than the one in 1989.
In twenty years, the world changed dramatically. The Soviet demise led to new challenges. At present, it appears post-Cold War American leadership lacked the necessities to deal with the crisis. Although Clinton helped the Balkans, his inaction on Bin Laden led to 911. Bush’s leap in Iraq may have sacrificed Afghanistan. Obama appears unwilling to win in Afghanistan and his efforts in the Senate helped lead to the economic meltdown. So, instead of global halcyon days, we may be headed back to the 1930s.
