ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER TARİHİ

Gorbachev’s main aim was to reform the Soviet economy that had fallen behind its Western counterparts since the 1960s, without making any fundamental changes in the governing ideology of the Soviet Union. Defined as perestroika (restructuring), this reform package intended some small scale changes in the country’s economy and politics with the aim of primarily fixing the problems of the Soviet economy. In the realm of the economy, these changes involved reforms such as the introduction of small-scale private economic activity and giving responsibility to factory managers. In the political and social realm, these reforms were known as glasnost (openness) and involved the creation of a more representative system, acknowledging social problems and historical wrongdoings, and intending to give a larger “voice” to people so that they could air their grievances in economically turbulent times. B is the correct choice.

For John Lewis Gaddis, who wrote one of the most authoritative works on the history of the Cold War, the end of the Cold War spelled the “triumph of hope.” He argued that communism had failed to deliver the better life it had promised and the global rise of democracies, coupled with the bravery of ordinary people in the least expected times, had brought about the downfall of authoritarian regimes in the Communist bloc and triggered the end of the Cold War. In a similar tone, and as early as 1989, even before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Francis Fukuyama in his famous article, “The End of History” argued that history was made as a result of the clash between individualism and collectivism, and that the weakening of communist regimes in the USSR and East Europe meant the defeat of the forces of collectivism and the victory of individualism, i.e., liberalism. D is the correct choice.

the First Gulf War was important for several reasons. First, this was the first ever that smart bombs had been used, i.e. precision-guided bombs and missiles tuned with incredible accuracy and were very effective in destroying their intended targets and were crucial to the US-led international coalition’s swift victory. Second, the war coincided with the development of cable news networks whose 24-hour coverage of the war led to the emergence of the CNN Effect. C is the correct answer.

UN efforts to mediate the conflict came in two waves. First, in May 1992, the UN imposed economic sanctions on Serbia for supporting the Bosnian Serbs and arms embargo against all of the former republics of Yugoslavia, including Bosnia—a move that placed Bosnian Muslims in a heavily disadvantaged position. Second, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was sent to Bosnia with the mission of providing a safe passage for humanitarian aid, but not with a clear mandate for intervening in the war. In April 1993, the UN also declared six safe areas in Bosnia and deployed UNPROFOR to protect these areas. E is the correct choice.

The Rwandan Genocide, which took the lives of an estimated 500.000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in less than 100 days in the spring and summer of 1994, went down in history as a mass murder that took place under the gaze of Western powers. A is the correct answer.

The Treaty of Maastricht also gave EU citizens the right to work and live in any member country, rendering borders between members obsolete. C is the correct answer.

The relative success of the European experiment to stimulate economic growth through the creation of a free trade area soon motivated North American leaders to create a free trade zone with minimal barriers to the flow of goods and capital (though not labor) themselves. In that sense, NAFTA can be considered the Canadian, American, and Mexican’s collective answer to the European Community. B is the correct answer.

The September 11th attacks, also known as 9/11, marked a major turning point in recent history and had widespread repercussions on world politics. First and foremost, these attacks brought an end to the great expectations and hopes that had emerged in the early post-Cold War years for a new world order based on liberal and democratic values. Both the attacks, and just as importantly, the response to them, seriously challenged globalization. D is the correct answer.

With the exception of Tunisia, the Arab Spring has so far failed to bring democratic governments to the Arab world. Egypt, for its part, returned to an authoritarian regime in 2013 after democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed from power in a military coup led by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Further east, popular demands for political change in Yemen and Bahrain were also suppressed with the assistance of Saudi Arabia. Libya is currently a failed state, ripped apart by a civil war between the UN-backed Government of National Accord, which is supported by Britain, Italy, Turkey, and Qatar, and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives led by General Haftar and supported by France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, among others. E is the correct answer.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 is usually considered the event marking the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the post-Cold War period. The end of the Soviet Union was not simply the end of the Soviet Union—one of the world’s two superpowers at the time. The correct answer is E.

When the UN’s embargo on Iraqi oil did not persuade Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait, US President George Bush announced Operation Desert Shield on August 7, 1990, arguing that the US imported half of the oil it consumed from the region and that the invasion of Kuwait was a “major threat to its economic independence,” (Bush, 1990). Operation Desert Shield, which necessitated a US troop build up in Saudi Arabia and the creation of an international coalition, was the first phase of the war that would eventually drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. The second phase of the war, Operation Desert Storm, started on January 16, 1991 when US-led international coalition, following a UN resolution, decided to enforce UN sanctions by military force, beginning with airstrikes against Iraq. These were coupled with a ground force in the final phase of operations. By the end of February 1991, not only was Kuwait liberated, but after a humiliating defeat and withdrawal, Iraq agreed to comply with the UN sanctions. The correct answer is E.

Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The Iraqi government maintained that historically Kuwait had been a part of Iraq and that Iraq was simply correcting an earlier mistake of the imperialist powers. In reality, reasons for the invasion ran deeper. Indebted and war-ravaged as a result of its eight-year long war with Iran, Iraq’s only way out of debt and a path to reconstruction was the revenue it planned to garner by exporting oil. The correct answer is D.

With ethnic wars, secessionist struggles, criticisms against his reforms, and declarations of sovereignty followed by declarations of independence, Gorbachev had to find a way to keep the Soviet Union together. Despite his efforts, on December 8, 1991, the leaders of the Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics announced the establishment the Common Wealth of Independent States (CIS) as a looser union that would replace the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Gorbachev’s resignation and the end of the Soviet Union would follow shortly thereafter. The correct answer is D.

In Poland, for example, this transition had already begun in 1980 when a group of Gdansk shipyard workers led by Lech Walesa came together as the Solidarity Movement to protest an increase in food prices. In the face of worsening economic conditions and protests, the authorities cracked down on the movement and jailed its leaders. By early 1989, Poland’s leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski realized that he could not rule the country without the Solidarity Movement, and thus legalized the movement and started a series of round-table talks that led to an elite-led democratic transition in the country. These talks would not only lead to the first competitive elections in the Polish parliament, in which Solidarity would capture the majority of the seats in both houses, but also to the election of the first non-communist prime minister in the Soviet Bloc—Tadeusz Mazowiecki. The correct answer is C.

The Arab Spring began in Tunisia in mid-December 2010 when a street vendor named Mohammed Bouzazi burned himself to death in protest over his maltreatment by the Tunisian police. His self-immolation triggered widespread anti-government demonstrations which rapidly brought an end to the 24-year oppressive regime of President Zine-al Abidine Bin-Ali. Anti-government protests quickly spread to other Arab countries from Morocco to Bahraini. Encouraged by the rapid success of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, as it became known due to its almost immediate success, protests erupted against the authoritarian government of Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt since 1981. In late January 2011, protestors gathered on Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand Mubarak’s removal. After losing the support of the military, he finally resigned from office on February 11, 2011. 

The Arab uprisings did not lead to peaceful changes of regime everywhere, however. Unlike the relatively smooth transitions in Tunisia and Egypt, the uprisings of 2011 turned into civil wars in Libya and Syria. The correct answer is A.

With the exception of Tunisia, the Arab Spring has so far failed to bring democratic governments to the Arab world. Egypt, for its part, returned to an authoritarian regime in 2013 after democraticallyelected President Mohamed Morsi, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed from power in a military coup led by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Further east, popular demands for political change in Yemen and Bahrain were also suppressed with the assistance of Saudi Arabia. Libya is currently a failed state, ripped apart by a civil war between the UNbacked Government of National Accord, which is supported by Britain, Italy, Turkey, and Qatar, and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives led by General Haftar and supported by France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, among others. As of the writing of this chapter, the ongoing Syrian war is now in its eighth year, and Assad is firmly in control of most of the country. The correct answer is A.

Apart from launching aggressive economic policies, Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which included 12 countries in the Pacific region and was meant to prevent the Chinese takeover of the Pacific economic order; took steps to renegotiate NAFTA with Mexico and Canada; began criticizing the free trade agreement with South Korea; and questioned the value of the WTO itself (Stiglitz, 2018). On the trade side, the Trump administration drastically increased tariffs on Chinese imports, thus beginning a trade war with Beijing reminiscent of the 1980s. With his “America First” approach to foreign policy, the American president also decided to end the US participation in both the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the UN Global Compact for Migration. The US also quit the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The correct answer is C.

Having vowed to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, Trump also put in place much harsher immigration and border policies. Along with the recent increase of right-wing, ultra-nationalist, and populist political parties in European politics, all these events have posed a great challenge to globalization, undermining liberal and democratic values around the world. The correct answer is B.

In June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence, soon followed with Macedonia in September 1991 and Bosnia-Herzegovina in March 1992. The federal army of Yugoslavia initially tried to bring Slovenia and Croatia back into Yugoslavia by force. However, the recognition given to them by European countries and later the US—not to mention the UN peacekeeping forces deployed to monitor the ceasefire established after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav federal army—gave Belgrade no choice but to let Slovenia and Croatia go. The correct answer is B.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 is usually considered the event marking the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the post-Cold War period.It also meant the end of the bipolar international system established after World War II, leaving the United States as the sole superpower of the international system.