Class-XII-Contemporary-World-Politics

CONTEMPORARY W P edORLD OLITICS not t©o NbeCEreRpTublishTEXTBOOK IN POLITICAL SCIENCE FOR CLASS XII

ISBN 81-7450-693-4 First Edition February 2007 Phalguna 1928 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reprinted ‰ No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system January 2008 Pausa 1929 March 2009 Phalguna 1930 or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. ‰ This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher’s consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. ‰ The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page, Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. PD 60T BS OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION d© National Council of EducationalDEPARTMENT, NCERT Research and Training, 2007NCERT Campus Phone : 011-26562708 CERTublisheRs. 70.00 Sri Aurobindo Marg N pAbout the cover New Delhi 110 016 reThe stamps on the cover page are 108, 100 Feet Road Phone : 080-26725740 designed by the United NationsHosdakere Halli Extension Postal Administration portraying Banashankari III Stage ©various contemporary world issues.Bangaluru 560 085 to bePrinted on 80 GSM paper with NCERT Navjivan Trust Building Phone : 079-27541446 watermark P.O.Navjivan Phone : 033-25530454 Ahmedabad 380 014 Phone : 0361-2674869 Published at the Publication Department CWC Campus tby the Secretary, National Council ofOpp. Dhankal Bus Stop Panihati Educational Research and Training,Kolkata 700 114 oSri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016CWC Complex Maligaon and printed at Shakun Printer,Guwahati 781 021 n241, Patparganj Industrial Area,Publication Team Head, Publication : Peyyeti Rajakumar Department Chief Production : Shiv Kumar Officer Chief Editor : Shveta Uppal Chief Business : Gautam Ganguly Manager Assistant Editor : Bijnan Sutar Production Assistant : Prakash Veer Singh Delhi 110 092 Cover and Layout Illustrations Shweta Rao Irfaan

iii Foreword The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends that children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, home and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries between dif ferent subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantly further in the direction of a child-centred dsystem of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986). eThe success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals and teachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own learning and to pursue himaginative activities and questions. We must recognise that given space, time and RT lisfreedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are ignored. E bInculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we perceive and treat children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge. C uThese aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the daily timetable is as necessary as rigour in implementing the annual N pcalendar so that the required number of teaching days is actually devoted to teaching. reThe methods used for teaching and evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making children’s life at school a happy experience, rather than a source of stress or bor edom. Syllabus designers have tried to address the problem of ©curricular burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different stages ewith greater consideration for child psychology and the time available for teaching. bThe textbook attempts to enhance this endeavour by giving higher priority and space to opportunities for contemplation and wondering, discussion in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience. toThe National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committee responsible for this book. tWe wish to thank the Chairperson of the advisory group in Social Sciences, Professor Hari Vasudevan, the Chief Advisors, Professor Yogendra Yadav and Pr ofessor Suhas oPalshikar and the Advisor, Professor Kanti Bajpai for guiding the work of this ncommittee. Several teachers contributed to the development of this textbook; we are grateful to their principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and organisations which have generously permitted us to draw upon their resources, material and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development under the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande, for their valuable time and contribution.

iv As an organisation committed to systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which will enable us to undertake further revision and refinement. Director New Delhi National Council of Educational 20 November 2006 Research and Training not © NbeCEreRpTublished to

v Preface Contemporary World Politics is part of the NCERT’s effort to help students understand politics. Other books for students of Political Science in Classes XI and XII deal with various facets of politics — the Indian Constitution, politics in India, and political theory. Contemporary World Politics enlarges the scope of politics to the world stage. The new Political Science syllabus has finally given space to world politics. This is a vital development. As India becomes more prominent in international politics and as events outside the country influence our lives and choices, we need to know more about the world outside. International affairs are discussed with great passion in India, but not always with sufficient understanding. We tend to rely on the daily dnewspaper, television, and casual conversation for our knowledge of how the world eworks. We hope this book will help students comprehend what is happening outside and India’s relations with it. hBefore we go any further, it is necessary to say something about why the book is titled ‘world politics’ rather than the more traditional ‘international politics’ or RT lis‘international relations’. In this world, the relationship between governments of different countries, or what we call international politics or international relations, is of course crucial. In addition, though, there are vital connections between governments, E bnon-government institutions, and ordinary people. These are often referred to as transnational relations. To understand the world, it is not possible any longer to C uunderstand only the links between governments. It is necessary to understand what happens across boundaries also — and governments are not the only agents of what N phappens. In addition, world politics includes politics within other countries, understood in recomparative perspective. For instance, the chapter on events in the “second world” of the communist countries after the Cold War deals with internal developments in this ©region. The South Asia chapter presents the state of democracy amongst India’s eneighbours. This is the field of comparative politics. The book is concerned with world politics as it is today, more or less. It does not bdeal with world politics through the 19th or 20th centuries. The politics of those eras is dealt with in the History textbooks. We deal with the 20th century only to the extent that it is the background to present events and trends. For instance, we begin with tothe Cold War because it is impossible to comprehend where we are today without an understanding of what the Cold War was and how it ended. How should you use this book? Our hope is that this book will serve as an tintroduction to world politics. Teachers and students will use the book as a springboard to find out more about contemporary world politics. Each chapter will give you a certain oamount of information. It will also, though, give you some useful concepts with which nto understand the world: the Cold War; the notion of hegemony; international organisations; national security and human security; environmental security; globalisation; and so on. Each chapter begins with an overview to quickly give you an idea of what to expect. Each chapter also has maps, tables, graphics, boxes, cartoons, and other illustrations to enliven your reading and to get you to reflect on world politics by provoking, challenging, or amusing you. The characters — Unni and Munni, introduced in earlier

vi books, reappear. They ask their innocent, often mischievous, frequently probing questions. The chapters have suggestions on group activity (“Let’s Do It Together”)— collecting materials together, solving an international problem, making you negotiate as if you were a diplomat. Then there are the “plus boxes” which provide information not so much for tests and examination questions but rather to fill out knowledge, to summarise information that would burden the text, and, sometimes, to urge you to think further about the subject. The exercises at the end of each chapter should help review materials that you have read and take you beyond what has been said in the chapter. You will notice also that the book is filled with maps. It is difficult if not impossible to understand world politics without a sense of where various places are located, who lives next door to whom, where boundaries, rivers, and other political and geographical dfeatures are in relation to each other. We have, therefore, been quite liberal in providing maps. These maps are to help orient you, to visualise the political and geographical espaces that you read about. They are not intended to be things you have to draw and memorise for tests! hThis brings us to a crucial point about how to use the book. We have made a RT lisconscious effort not to load you down with information—with names, dates, events. We have tried to keep these to a minimum. The idea is not for you to become an expert on world politics but instead to begin to grapple with the complexity and urgency of this new world around us. At the same time, should you wish to know more about E bworld politics, you can consult the various sources mentioned separately under, “If you want to read more…”. C uIf the book succeeds in stimulating you, in making you ask even more questions than we have posed for you, and in making you impatient with what you have read N phere, then we have succeeded! We sincerely hope that you will like this book and find reit engaging and useful. We are grateful to Professor Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERT, for his support and guidance in the preparation of this book. He encouraged us in making this book as ©student-friendly as possible. He also patiently waited for the final draft of the book. eContemporary World Politics would not have been possible without the valuable time and academic expertise of the members of the Textbook Development Committee. bEach of the members gave us their precious time and set aside prior commitments at various junctures. Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi and Dr. Siddharth Mallavarapu deserve toour special thanks for their help in selecting maps and in editing the text. We are grateful for the devotion and sincerity of Dr. M. V. S. V. Prasad, the coordinator of this textbook from the NCERT, as also Mr. Alex M. George and Mr. Pankaj Pushkar who worked day and night to ensure the quality of the text, the authenticity of the contents, tand above all, the readability of this book. Ms. Padmavathi worked on all the exercises. oThe designer of this book, Ms. Shweta Rao, gave the book the attractive look and feel nthat it has. Without their unstinting and creative help, we could not have produced the book in its present form. Kanti Bajpai Yogendra Yadav, Suhas Palshikar Advisor Chief Advisors

vii Textbook Development Committee CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TEXTBOOKS AT THE SENIOR SECONDARY LEVEL Hari Vasudevan, Professor, Department of History, University of Calcutta, Kolkata CHIEF ADVISORS Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi dSuhas Palshikar, Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, eUniversity of Pune, Pune hADVISOR Kanti P. Bajpai, Headmaster, The Doon School, Dehradun RT lisMEMBERS Alex M. George, Independent Researcher, Eruvatty, District Kannur, Kerala E bAnuradha M. Chenoy, Professor, Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, SIS, JNU, New Delhi C uMadhu Bhalla, Professor, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi N pNavnita Chadha Behera, Reader, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, reDelhi Padmavathi, B.S., Faculty, Social Sciences, International Academy for Creative Teaching (iACT), Bangalore ©Pankaj Pushkar, Senior Lecturer, Directorate of Higher Education (Uttarakhand), Haldwani eSabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, Reader, Department of Political Science, Rabindra bBharati University, Kolkata Samir Das, Reader, Department of Political Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata toSanjay Chaturvedi, Reader, Centre for Study of Geopolitics, Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh Sanjay Dubey, Reader, DESSH, NCERT tShibashis Chatterjee,Lecturer, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata noSiddharth Mallavarapu, Assistant Professor, Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, SIS, JNU, New Delhi Varun Sahni, Professor, Centr e for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, SIS, JNU, New Delhi MEMBER-COORDINATOR Malla V. S. V. Prasad, Lecturer, Department of Education in Social Sciences and Humanities (DESSH), NCERT, New Delhi

viii Acknowledgements The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) acknowledges all those who contributed – directly and indirectly – to the development of this textbook. We offer thanks to Professor Savita Sinha, Head, DESSH for her support. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the administrative staff of DESSH. We want to record our sincere appreciation of the generous institutional support provided dby the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). We would like to thank Professor Peter R. De Souza, Director, Lokniti, in particular. eThe Council gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the following individuals hand institutions: Mr. Robert W. Gray, Chief, United Nations Postal Administration, RT lisNew York for granting approval to use UN stamps; Professor K. C. Suri for valuable inputs; Cagle Cartoons Inc. for providing copyrights of the cartoons of Andy Singer, Angel Boligan, Ares, Cam Cardow, Christo Komarnitski, Deng Coy Miel, Harry Harrison, Mike Lane, Milt Priggee, Pat Bagley, Petar Pismestrovic and Tab; Mr. Kutty E b(Laughing with Kutty), The Hindu, and Pakistan Tribune for the cartoons; cartoonist Irfaan Khan for the drawings; M/s. Cartographic Designs for providing two maps C u(India and its neighbours and the world map); the Parliament Library, the United N pNations Information Centre, New Delhi and Gobar Times (Down to Earth supplements) for providing materials; and wikipedia and flickr.com (downloaded before 31 Dec 2006) refor providing images. The production of the book benefited greatly from the efforts of the Publications ©Department. Our special thanks to Purnendu Kumar Barik, Copy Editor, and eNeelam Walecha, DTP Operator. t to bRequest for Feedback oHow did you like this textbook? What was your experience in reading or using this? What wer e the difficulties you nfaced? What changes would you like to see in the next version of this book? Write to us on all these and any other matter related to this textbook. You could be a teacher, a par ent, a student or just a general reader. We value any and every feedback. Please write to: Coordinator (Political Science) DESSH, NCERT, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016 You could also send an e-mail to [email protected]

ix Contents Foreword iii Preface v Chapter 1 1 The Cold War Era 17 31 Chapter 2 51 65 dThe End of Bipolarity 81 eChapter 3 99 hUS Hegemony in World Politics 117 RT lisChapter 4 135 Alternative Centres of Power E bChapter 5 Contemporary South Asia NC puChapter 6 International Organisations reChapter 7 ©Security in the Contemporary World eChapter 8 bEnvironment and Natural Resources toChapter 9 notGlobalisation

If You Want to Read More… Where can you read more on contemporary world politics? There are hundreds of thousands of sources, but here are a few suggestions. We focus here on English language sources. These are by no means the only good sources, but they are easier for Indian students to access. Wikipedia (on the net) often has interesting entries on many of the subjects, countries, people, and events referred to in the book. Encyclopaedias such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica are rich sources of information. There are many more advanced introductory books on world politics. Some useful and fairly contemporary ones include The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations edited by John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (Oxford University Press, 2004), The Global Future: A Brief dIntroduction to World Politics by Charles W. Kegley and Gregory A. Raymond (Wadsworth ePublishing, 2007), United States and the Great Powers: World Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Barry Buzan (Polity Press, 2004), International Relations by Joshua S. Goldstein hand Jon C. Pevehouse (Longman, 2005) and World Politics by Peter Calvocoressi (Longman, RT lis2001). Among the magazines you could read regularly are Frontline , India Today, Outlook and The Week, all Indian publications. Also in India, there are more academic journals such as China Report, Economic and Political Weekly, India International Centre Quarterly, E bIndia Quarterly, International Studies, Seminar, South Asian Survey, Strategic Analysis C uand World Affairs. Outside India, there are a huge number of journals but the most popular include the following US and British journals: Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, The National N pInterest, Newsweek and Time. The American journals, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy will give you an idea how leading US thinkers regard the world. Among the academic rejournals, internationally, are Alternatives, Arms Control Today, Asian Security, Asian Survey, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, China Quarterly, Comparative Politics, European ©Journal of International Relations, Global Governance, Harvard International Review, eIndia Review, International Affairs, International Journal, International Organization, International Security, Millennium, Orbis, Pacific Affairs, Review of International Studies, bRussian Review, Survival, Security Dialogue, Security Studies, Slavic Review, World Policy Jour nal, World Politics and YaleGlobal Online. toOf course, you should get into the habit of reading the daily newspaper and keeping up with what is going on in the world. The television news channels also report regularly noton world events: do watch the world unfold before your eyes!

Chapter 1 OThe Cold War Era edVERVIEW hThis chapter provides a backdrop RT listo the entire book. The end of the Cold War is usually seen as the beginning of the contemporary era in world politics which is the E bsubject matter of this book. It is, therefore, appropriate that we C ubegin the story with a discussion N pof the Cold War. The chapter shows how the dominance of two resuperpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, ©was central to the Cold War. It etracks the various arenas of the Cold War in different parts of the bworld. The chapter views the Non- Aligned Movement (NAM) as a tochallenge to the dominance of the two superpowers and describes the attempts by the non-aligned tcountries to establish a New International Economic Order o(NIEO) as a means of attaining neconomic development and The end of the Second World War led to the rise of two major centres of power. The two pictures above symbolise the political independence. It victory of the US and the USSR in the Second World War. 1. American soldiers raising the US flag during the Battle of concludes with an assessment of Iwo Jima, Japan, on 23 February 1945 India’s role in NAM and asks how Credit: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, successful the policy of non- Photograph by Joe Rosenthal/The Associated Press alignment has been in protecting 2. Soviet soldiers raising the USSR flag on the Reichstag India’s interests. building in Berlin, Germany, in May 1945 Credit: Reichstag flag, Photograph by Yevgeny Khaldei/TASS

2 Contemporary World Politics CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS In April 1961, the leaders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were worried that the United States of America (USA) would invade communist-ruled dWe are on a world tour! Will meet you in different countries. Feels goodCuba and overthrow Fidel Castro, not t©o NbeCEreRpTublishetobearoundwhereeventshavehappened. the president of the small island nation off the coast of the United States. Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union and received both diplomatic and financial aid from it. Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to convert Cuba into a Russian base. In 1962, he placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The installation of these weapons put the US, for the first time, under fire from close range and nearly doubled the number of bases or cities in the American mainland which could be threatened by the USSR. Three weeks after the Soviet Union had placed the nuclear weapons in Cuba, the Americans became aware of it. The US President, John F. Kennedy, and his advisers were reluctant to do anything that might lead to full-scale nuclear war between the two countries, but they were determined to get Khrushchev to remove the missiles and nuclear weapons from Cuba. Kennedy ordered American warships to intercept any Soviet ships heading to Cuba as a way of warning the USSR of his seriousness. A clash seemed Map showing the range of the nuclear missiles under construction imminent in what came to be in Cuba, used during the secret meetings on the Cuban missile crisis known as the Cuban Missile Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Crisis. The prospects of this

The Cold War Era 3 clash made the whole world WHAT IS THE COLD WAR? nervous, for it would have been no ordinary war. Eventually, to The end of the Second World War the world’s great relief, both sides decided to avoid war. The is a landmark in contemporary Soviet ships slowed down and turned back. world politics. In 1945, the Allied The Cuban Missile Crisis was Forces, led by the US, Soviet a high point of what came to be known as the Cold War. The Cold Union, Britain and France War referred to the competition, the tensions and a series of defeated the Axis Powers led by confrontations between the Germany, Italy and Japan, ending United States and Soviet Union, the Second World War (1939- backed by their respective allies. 1945). The war had involved Fortunately, however, it never escalated into a ‘hot war’, that is, dalmost all the major powers of the a full-scale war between these two powers. There were wars in world and spread out to regions various regions, with the two powers and their allies involved eoutside Europe including in warfare and in supporting hSoutheast Asia, China, Burma regional allies, but at least the world avoided another global war. (now Myanmar) and parts of T h e C o l d Wa r w a s n o t RT lisIndia’s northeast. The war ©simply a matter of power devastated the world in terms of loss of human lives and civilian rivalries, of military alliances, and of the balance of power. E bproperty. The First World War had These were accompanied by a real ideological conflict as well, earlier shaken the world between a difference over the best and C u1914 and 1918. tothe most appropriate way of N pThe end of the Second World organising political, economic, War was also the beginning of the and social life all over the world. reCold War. The world war ended tThe western alliance, headed by when the United States dropped the US, represented the two atomic bombs on the oideology of liberal democracy eJapanese cities of Hiroshima and nand capitalism while the bNagasaki in August 1945, causing eastern alliance, headed by the Japan to surrender. Critics of the Soviet Union, was committed to US decision to drop the bombs the ideology of socialism and communism. You have already have argued that the US knew that studied these ideologies in Class XI. Japan was about to surrender and that it was unnecessary to drop the bombs. They suggest that the US action was intended to stop the Soviet Union from making military So near yet so far! and political gains in Asia and I can't believe that elsewhere and to show Moscow Cuba survived as a that the United States was communist country supreme. US supporters have for so long despite argued that the dropping of the being located so atomic bombs was necessary to close to the US. Just end the war quickly and to stop look at the map.

4 Contemporary World Politics further loss of American and Allied weapons capable of inflicting death lives. Whatever the motives, the and destruction unacceptable to consequence of the end of the each other, a full-fledged war is Second World War was the rise of unlikely. In spite of provocations, two new powers on the global stage. neither side would want to risk war With the defeat of Germany and since no political gains would Japan, the devastation of Europe justify the destruction of their not and in many other parts of the societies. world, the United States and the Soviet Union became the greatest In the event of a nuclear war, powers in the world with the ability both sides will be so badly harmed that it will be impossible to declare dto influence events anywhere on one side or the other as the winner. Even if one of them tries to attack earth. and disable the nuclear weapons of its rival, the other would still be eWhile the Cold War was an left with enough nuclear weapons houtcome of the emergence of the to inflict unacceptable destruction. This is called the logic of US and the USSR as two ‘deterrence’: both sides have the capacity to retaliate against an RT lissuperpowers rival to each other, attack and to cause so much destruction that neither can afford it was also rooted in the to initiate war. Thus, the Cold War understanding that the destruction — in spite of being an intense form of rivalry between great powers — E bcaused by the use of atom bombs remained a ‘cold’ and not hot or shooting war. The deterrence is too costly for any country to relationship prevents war but not the rivalry between powers. C ubear. The logic is simple yet Note the main military powerful. When two rival powers features of the Cold War. The two superpowers and the countries in N pare in possession of nuclear the rival blocs led by the reThese pictures depict the destruction caused by the bombs dropped by the ©US on Hiroshima (the bomb was code- enamed ‘Little Boy’) and Nagasaki (code-named ‘Fat Man’). Yet, these bbombs were very small in their destructive capacity (measured in terms of kiloton yield) as compared to tothe nuclear bombs that were to be available in the stockpiles assembled by the superpowers. The yield of Little Boy superpowers were expected to and Fat Man were 15 and 21 kilotons behave as rational and respectively. By the early 1950s the US and the USSR were already making responsible actors. They were to thermonuclear weapons that had a be rational and responsible in the yield between 10 and 15 thousand sense that they understood the kilotons. In other words, these bombs risks in fighting wars that might were a thousand times more destructive than the bombs used in Hiroshima and involve the two superpowers. Nagasaki. During much of the Cold War, When two superpowers and the both the superpowers possessed blocs led by them are in a deterrence relationship, fighting thousands of such weapons. Just wars will be massively destructive. imagine the extent of destruction that these could cause all over the globe.

The Cold War Era 5 Responsibility, therefore, meant The smaller states in the being restrained and avoiding the alliances used the link to the 1. Identify three risk of another world war. In this superpowers for their own countries from each sense the Cold War managed to purposes. They got the promise of of the rival blocs. ensure human survival. protection, weapons, and 2. Look at the map economic aid against their local of the European T EHE MERGENCE OF rivals, mostly regional neighbours Union in Chapter 4 T P BWO OWER LOCS with whom they had rivalries. The and identify four alliance systems led by the countries that were The two superpowers were keen two superpowers, therefore , part of the Warsaw threatened to divide the entire Pact and now don expanding their spheres of world into two camps. This belong to the EU. division happened first in Europe. influence in different parts of the Most countries of western Europe 3. By comparing this sided with the US and those of map with that of eworld. In a world sharply divided eastern Europe joined the Soviet the European Union camp. That is why these were also map, identify three between the two alliance systems, called the ‘western’ and the new countries that ‘eastern’ alliances. came up in the ha state was supposed to remain post-Cold War RT listied to its protective superpower period. to limit the influence of the other superpower and its allies. CE ubNATO Members Warsaw Pact Members N pOther Communist Nations Others reIRELAND NORWAY FINLAND © eDublin Helsinki Oslo Stockholm SWEDEN North Sea DENMARK bATLANTIC Moscow t toOCEAN Copenhagen USSR BRITAIN NETH. London Berlin The Hague EAST Warsaw Brussels Bonn GERMANY POLAND noPORTUGAL BELG. Prague LUX. GEWRMESAT NYVCieZEnCnHaOSLOVAKIA Paris FRANCE Bern SWITZ. AUSTRIA Budapest HUNGARY ROMANIA Bucharest Yalta Belgrade Black Sea SPAIN ITALY YUGOSLAVIA BULGARIA Lisbon Madrid Rome ALBANIA Sofia Ankara Tirana TURKEY GREECE Map showing the way Europe was divided into rival alliances during the Cold War

6 Contemporary World Politics FIRST WORLD RT lishedThe western alliance was respective alliances. Soviet SECOND WORLD intervention in east Europe THIRD W ORLD formalised into an organisation, provides an example. The Soviet Union used its influence in In the following E bthe North Atlantic Treaty eastern Europe, backed by the column, write very large presence of its armies the names of Organisation (NATO), which came in the countries of the region, to three countries, ensure that the eastern half of which belong to: C uinto existence in April 1949. It wasEurope remained within its sphere of influence. In East and Capitalist Bloc an association of twelve states Southeast Asia and in West Asia ________________ (Middle East), the United States ________________ N pwhich declared that armed attack built an alliance system called — reon any one of them in Europe or the Southeast Asian T reaty not________________ Organisation (SEATO) and the North America would be regarded Central Tr eaty Organisation Communist Bloc as an attack on all of them. Each ________________ ________________ © eof these states would be obliged ________________ to help the other. The eastern Non-Aligned Movement balliance, known as the Warsaw ________________ ________________ Pact, was led by the Soviet Union. ________________ It was created in 1955 and its toprincipal function was to counter NATO’s forces in Europe. (CENTO). The Soviet Union and International alliances during communist China responded by the Cold War era were determined having close relations with by the requirements of the regional countries such as North superpowers and the calculations Vietnam, North Korea and Iraq. of the smaller states. As noted The Cold War threatened to above, Europe became the main divide the world into two alliances. arena of conflict between the Under these circumstances, many superpowers. In some cases, the of the newly independent superpowers used their military countries, after gaining their power to bring countries into their independence from the colonial

The Cold War Era 7 powers such as Britain and democracy and capitalism were France, were worried that they better than socialism and would lose their freedom as soon communism, or vice versa. as they gained formal independence. Cracks and splits ARENAS OF THE COLD WAR within the alliances were quick to appear. Communist China The Cuban Missile Crisis that we quarrelled with the USSR towards the late 1950s, and, in 1969, they began this chapter with was onlyHow come there are fought a brief war over a territorial one of the several crises that still two Koreas while dispute. The other important occurred during the Cold War. the other divisions development was the Non-Aligned The Cold War also led to severalcreated by the Cold Movement (NAM), which gave the War have ended? newly independent countries a dshooting wars, but it is importantDo the people of way of staying out of the alliances. eto note that these crises and warsKorea want the division to continue? You may ask why the did not lead to another world war. superpowers needed any allies at all. After all, with their nuclear hThe two superpowers were poised weapons and regular armies, they were so powerful that the combined for direct confrontations in Korea power of most of the smaller states in Asia and Africa, and even in RT lis(1950 - 53), Berlin (1958 - 62), the Europe, was no match to that of the superpowers. Yet, the smaller Congo (the early 1960s), and in states were helpful for the several other places. Crises ©superpowers in gaining access to E bdeepened, as neither of the parties (i) vital resources, such as oil and minerals, involved was willing to back down. (ii) territory, from where the C uWhen we talk about arenas of the superpowers could launch their weapons and troops, Cold War, we refer, therefore, to to(iii) locations from where they N pareas where crisis and war could spy on each other, and reoccurred or threatened to occur t(iv) economic support, in that between the alliance systems but omany small allies together did not cross certain limits. A ncould help pay for military egreat many lives were lost in some expenses. bof these arenas like Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan, but the They were also important for ideological reasons. The loyalty of world was spared a nuclear war allies suggested that the superpowers were winning the and global hostilities. In some war of ideas as well, that liberal cases, huge military build-ups were reported. In many cases, diplomatic communication between the superpowers could not be sustained and contributed to the misunderstandings. Locate the Sometimes, countries outside flashpoints the two blocs, for example, the of the Cold non-aligned countries, played a War on a role in reducing Cold War conflicts world map. and averting some grave crises. Jawaharlal Nehru — one of the key

8 Contemporary World Politics leaders of the NAM — played a THE COLD WAR TIMELINE crucial role in mediating between the two Koreas. In the Congo 1947 American President Harry Truman’s Doctrine crisis, the UN Secretary-General about the containment of communism played a key mediatory role. By and large, it was the realisation 1947 - 52 Marshall Plan: US aid for the reconstruction of on a superpower’s part that war the Western Europe by all means should be avoided d1950 - 53 Korean War; division of Korea along the 38th that made them exercise restraint eParallel and behave more responsibly in 1948 - 49 Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union and the international affairs. As the Cold airlift of supplies to the citizens of West Berlin War rolled from one arena to by the US and its allies another, the logic of restraint was RT lish1954 increasingly evident. Defeat of the French by the Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu However, since the Cold War Signing of the Geneva Accords did not eliminate rivalries between Division of Vietnam along the 17th Parallel the two alliances, mutual Formation of SEATO suspicions led them to arm E b1955 Signing of the Baghdad Pact, later CENTO themselves to the teeth and to C u1956 Soviet intervention in Hungary constantly prepare for war. Huge 1954 - 75 American intervention in Vietnam stocks of arms were considered N rep1961 necessary to prevent wars from © e1965 taking place. US-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba Construction of the Berlin Wall The two sides understood that war might occur in spite of b1968 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia restraint. Either side might 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis miscalculate the number of weapons in the possession of the American intervention in the Dominican other side. They might Republic misunderstand the intentions of to1978 - 89 Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia the other side. Besides, what if 1972 US President Richard Nixon’s visit to Chinaot1985 there was a nuclear accident? What would happen if someone 1979 - 89 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan fired off a nuclear weapon by n1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall; mass protests against mistake or if a soldier Gorbachev becomes the President of the mischievously shot off a weapon USSR; begins the reform process deliberately to start a war? What if an accident occurred with a governments in eastern Europe nuclear weapon? How would the 1990 Unification of Germany leaders of that country know it was an accident and not an act of 1991 Disintegration of the Soviet Union sabotage by the enemy or that a End of the Cold War era missile had not landed from the other side?

The Cold War Era 9 Drawn by well- t©o NbeCEreRpTublishedPOLITICAL SPRING ChinamakesoverturestotheUSA. known Indian cartoonist Kutty, these two cartoons depict an Indian view of the Cold War. The first cartoon was drawn when the US entered into a secret understanding with China, keeping the USSR in the dark. Find out more about the characters in the cartoon. The second cartoon depicts the American misadventure in Vietnam. Find out more about the Vietnam War. not FOOD FOR THOUGHT President Johnson is in more troubles over Vietnam.

10 Contemporary World Politics In time, therefore, the US and (i) cooperation among these five USSR decided to collaborate in countries, FOUNDER limiting or eliminating certain (ii) growing Cold War tensions FIGURES kinds of nuclear and non-nuclear and its widening arenas, and OF NAM weapons. A stable balance of Josip Broz Tito weapons, they decided, could be (iii) the dramatic entry of many (1892-1980) President of maintained through ‘arms newly decolonised African Yugoslavia (1945- 80); fought against control’. Starting in the 1960s, the countries into the inter - Germany in World two sides signed three national arena. By 1960, War II; communist; significant agreements within a there were 16 new African maintained some decade. These were the Limited members in the UN. distance from the Soviet Union; dTest Ban Treaty, Nuclear Non- The first summit was attended forged unity in by 25 member states. Over the Yugoslavia. Proliferation Treaty and the years, the membership of NAM has expanded. The latest meeting, notJawaharlal Nehru eAnti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. the 14th summit, was held in Havana in 2006. It included 116 (1889-1964) Thereafter, the superpowers held member states and 15 observer First Prime Minister countries. of India (1947-64); hseveral rounds of arms limitation made efforts for RT listalks and signed several more As non-alignment grew into a Asian unity, popular international movement, decolonisation, treaties to limit their arms. countries of various different nuclear political systems and interests disarmament; E bCHALLENGE TO BIPOLARITY joined it. This made the movement advocated C uWe have already seen how the less homogeneous and also made peaceful it more difficult to define in very coexistence for Cold War tended to divide the neat and precise terms: what did securing world it really stand for? Increasingly, peace. N pworld into two rival alliances. ItNAM was easier to define in terms rewas in this context that non- of what it was not. It was not about being a member of an alliance. alignment offered the newly decolonised countries of Asia, The policy of staying away © eAfrica and Latin America a third option—not to join either alliance. bThe roots of NAM went back to the friendship between three toleaders — Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito, India’s Jawaharlal Nehru, from alliances should not and Egypt’s leader Gamal Abdel be considered isolationism or Nasser — who held a meeting in neutrality. Non-alignment is not 1956. Indonesia’s Sukarno and isolationism since isolationism Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah means remaining aloof from world strongly supported them. These affairs. Isolationism sums up the five leaders came to be known as foreign policy of the US from the the five founders of NAM. The first American War of Independence in non-aligned summit was held in 1787 up to the beginning of the Belgrade in 1961. This was the First World War. In comparison, culmination of at least three the non-aligned countries, factors: including India, played an active

The Cold War Era 11 role in mediating between the two The idea of a New Inter- rival alliances in the cause of peace and stability. Their strength national Economic Order (NIEO) was based on their unity and their resolve to remain non-aligned originated with this realisation. despite the attempt by the two superpowers to bring them into The United Nations Conference FOUNDER their alliances. on Trade and Development FIGURES OF NAM (UNCTAD) brought out a report in 1972 entitled Towards a New Non-alignment is also not Trade Policy for Development. The report proposed a reform of neutrality. Neutrality refers the global trading system so as to: principally to a policy of staying d(i) give the LDCs control over out of war. States practising their natural resources eexploited by the developed neutrality are not required to help hWestern countries, (ii) obtain access to Western end a war. They do not get Gamal Abdel RT lismarkets so that the LDCs Nasser (1918-70) involved in wars and do not Ruled Egypt from could sell their products and,1952 to 1970; take any position on the therefore, make trade more espoused the causes of Arab appropriateness or morality of a E bbeneficial for the poorer nationalism, socialism and war. Non-aligned states, including countries, anti-imperialism; nationalised the India, were actually involved in C u(iii) reduce the cost of technology Suez Canal, N pfromtheWesterncountries,and leading to an wars for various reasons. They re(iv) provide the LDCs with a international conflict in 1956. also worked to prevent war greater role in international economic institutions. between others and tried to end Gradually, the nature of non- wars that had broken out. bealignment changed to give greater NEW INTERNATIONAL © ECONOMIC ORDER The non-aligned countries were importance to economic issues. more than merely mediators during the Cold War. The challenge for most In 1961, at the first summit in of the non-aligned countries — a Belgrade, economic issues had tomajority of them were categorised not been very important. By the Sukarno (1901-70) as the Least Developed Countries mid-1970s, they had become the First President of (LDCs) — was to be more developed most important issues. As a Indonesia (1945- teconomically and to lift their people result, NAM became an economic 65); led the oout of poverty. Economic pressur e group. By the late freedom struggle; ndevelopment was also vital for the 1980s, however, the NIEO initiative had faded, mainly espoused the independence of the new countries. because of the stiff opposition causes of Without sustained development, a from the developed countries who socialism and country could not be truly free. It acted as a united group while the anti-imperialism; would remain dependent on the non-aligned countries struggled organised the richer countries including the to maintain their unity in the face colonial powers from which political Bandung freedom had been achieved. Conference; overthrown in a military coup. of this opposition.

12 Contemporary World Politics INDIA AND THE COLD WAR cause which had little to do with India’s real interests. A non-aligned As a leader of NAM, India’s posture also served India’s interests FOUNDER response to the ongoing Cold War very directly, in at least two ways: FIGURES was two-fold: At one level, it took First, non-alignment allowed OF NAM particular care in staying away India to take international from the two alliances. Second, it decisions and stances that raised its voice against the newly decolonised countries becoming part of these alliances. hedKwame Nkrumah served its interests rather than India’s policy was neither the interests of the super- (1909-72) negative nor passive. As Nehru powers and their allies. reminded the world, non- RT lisFirst Prime Ministeralignment was not a policy of Second, India was often able ‘fleeing away’. On the contrary, to balance one superpower of Ghana (1952-India was in favour of actively against the other. If India felt 66); led the intervening in world affairs to ignored or unduly pressurised freedom soften Cold War rivalries. India by one superpower, it could tilt tried to reduce the differences towards the other. Neither E bmovement; between the alliances and thereby alliance system could take prevent differences from India for granted or bully it. advocated the escalating into a full-scale war. Indian diplomats and leaders were India’s policy of non-alignment C ucauses of often used to communicate and was criticised on a number of mediate between Cold War rivals counts. Here we may refer to only socialism and such as in the Korea War in the two criticisms: early 1950s. N pAfrican unity; First, India’s non-alignment was said to be ‘unprincipled’. opposed neo- In the name of pursuing its national interest, India, it was recolonialism; said, often refused to take a fir m stand on crucial removed in a international issues. ©military coup. Second, it is suggested that eIt is important to remember India was inconsistent and toSo, NIEO was just anbmembers of the non-aligned group took contradictory postures. that India chose to involve other Having criticised others for idea that never joining alliances, India signed became an order. in this mission. During the Cold the Treaty of Friendship in tRight? August 1971 with the USSR War, India repeatedly tried to for 20 years. This was activate those regional and regarded, particularly by international organisations, which outside observers, as ncountries,oName any five reposed great faith in ‘a genuine were not a part of the alliances led by the US and USSR. Nehru which were commonwealth of free and decolonised cooperating nations’ that would following the play a positive role in softening, if end of the not ending, the Cold War. virtually joining the Soviet Second World Non-alignment was not, as alliance system. The Indian War. some suggest, a noble international government’s view was that

The Cold War Era 13 India needed diplomatic and hedSTEPS possibly military support RT lis‹ Divide the classroom into three groups of even during the Bangladesh crisis and that in any case the number. Each group is to represent three treaty did not stop India from different worlds - first world/capitalist world, having good relations with other countries including E bsecond world/communist world and the third the US. world/non-aligned world. Non-alignment as a strategy evolved in the Cold War context. C u‹ The teacher is to select any two critical issues As we will see in Chapter 2, with N pwhich posed a threat to world peace and the disintegration of the USSR and the end of the Cold War in 1991, resecurity during the Cold War days. ( The Korean non-alignment, both as an international movement and as and Vietnam Wars would be good examples). the core of India’s foreign policy, lost some of its earlier relevance ‹ Assign each group to work on developing an and effectiveness. However, non- alignment contained some core e‘event profile’. They have to develop, from the values and enduring ideas. It was b vantage point of the bloc they represent, a based on a recognition that decolonised states share a presentation that contains a timeline of the historical affiliation and can event, its causes, their preferred course of action become a powerful force if they to solve the problem. come together. It meant that the poor and often very small ‹ Each group is to present their event profile ©countries of the world need not before the class. become followers of any of the big Ideas for the Teacher powers, that they could pursue an independent foreign policy. It was Draw students’ attention to the repercussions these crises had also based on a resolve to democratise the international on the rest of the world and on the respective countries. Connect to the present situation in these countries. tosystem by thinking about an Highlight the role played by the leaders of the Third World alternative world order to redress existing inequities. These core (India’s stand and contribution in Korea and Vietnam could be taken up for reference) and the UN to bring back peace in tideas remain relevant even after these regions. nothe Cold War has ended. Open a debate on ‘how we could avert these kind of crises’ in the post-Cold War world.

14 Contemporary World Politics ARMS CONTROL TREATIES hedLIMITED TEST BAN TREATY (LTBT) Banned nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water. RT lisSigned by the US, UK and USSR in Moscow on 5 August 1963. Entered into force on 10 October 1963. E bNUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT) Allows only the nuclear weapon states to have nuclear weapons and stops others from C uaquiring them. For the purposes of the NPT, a nuclear weapon state is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 N pJanuary 1967. So there are five nuclear weapon states: US, USSR (later Russia), Britain, France and China. Signed in Washington, London, and Moscow on 1 July 1968. reEntered into force on 5 March 1970. Extended indefinitely in 1995. ©STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS I (SALT-I) eThe first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began in November 1969. The Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the US President Richard Nixon signed the following in Moscow bon 26 May 1972 – a) Treaty on the limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty); and b) Interim Agreement on the limitation of strategic offensive arms. Entered into force on 3 October 1972. toSTRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS II (SALT-II) The second round started in November 1972. The US President Jimmy Carter and the Soviet tleader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive arms in Vienna on 18 June 1979. noSTRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY I (START-I) Treaty signed by the USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and the US President George Bush (Senior) on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms in Moscow on 31 July 1991. STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY II (START-II) Treaty signed by the Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the US President George Bush (Senior) on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms in Moscow on 3 January 1993.

The Cold War Era 15 1. Which among the following statements about the Cold War is Exercises wrong? a) It was a competition between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. b) It was an ideological war between the superpowers. c) It triggered off an arms race. d) the US and USSR were engaged in direct wars. 2. Which among the following statements does not reflect the objectives of NAM da) Enabling newly decolonised countries to pursue independent epolicies b) No to joining any military alliances hc) Following a policy of ‘neutrality’ on global issues RT lisd) Focus on elimination of global economic inequalities 3. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements that describe the features of the military alliances formed by the E bsuperpowers. a) Member countries of the alliance are to provide bases in their C urespective lands for the superpowers. N pb) Member countries to support the superpower both in terms of reideology and military strategy. c) When a nation attacks any member country, it is considered as an attack on all the member countries. ©d) Superpowers assist all the member countries to develop their eown nuclear weapons. b4. Here is a list of countries. Write against each of these the bloc they belonged to during the Cold War. toa) Poland b) France c) Japan td) Nigeria noe) North Korea f) Sri Lanka 5. The Cold War produced an arms race as well as arms control. What were the reasons for both these developments? 6. Why did the superpowers have military alliances with smaller countries? Give three reasons.

16 Contemporary World Politics 7. Sometimes it is said that the Cold War was a simple struggle for power and that ideology had nothing to do with it. Do you agree with this? Give one example to support your position. notExercises 8. What was India’s foreign policy towards the US and USSR during the Cold War era? Do you think that this policy helped India’s interests? 9. NAM was considered a ‘third option’ by Third World countries. How did this option benefit their growth during the peak of the Cold War? d10. What do you think about the statement that NAM has become t©o NbeCEreRpTublisheirrelevant today. Give reasons to support your opinion.

Chapter 2 OThe End of Bipolarity edVERVIEW hThe Berlin Wall, which had been RT lisbuilt at the height of the Cold War and was its greatest symbol, was toppled by the people in 1989. E bThis dramatic event was followed by an equally dramatic and C uhistoric chain of events that led to the collapse of the ‘second N pworld’ and the end of the Cold War. reGermany, divided after the Second World War, was unified. One after another, the eight East European ©countries that were part of the eSoviet bloc replaced their bcommunist governments in response to mass demonstrations. The Soviet Union stood by as the toCold War began to end, not by military means but as a result of mass actions by ordinary men and twomen. Eventually the Soviet oUnion itself disintegrated. In this nchapter, we discuss the meaning, The Berlin Wall symbolised the division between the capitalist and the communist world. Built in 1961 to separate East Berlin from West Berlin, this more than 150 kilometre long wall stood for 28 years and was finally broken the causes and the consequences by the people on 9 November 1989. This marked the of the disintegration of the ‘second unification of the two parts of Germany and the beginning world’. We also discuss what of the end of the communist bloc. The pictures here depict: 1. People making a tiny hole in the wall happened to that part of the world 2. A section of the wall opened to allow free movement after the collapse of communist 3. The Berlin Wall as it stood before 1989 regimes and how India relates to Credit: 1. and 2. Frederik Ramm, these countries now. www.remote.org/frederik/culture/berlin 3. www.cs.utah.edu

18 Contemporary World Politics WHAT WAS THE SOVIET machinery production, and a SYSTEM ? transport sector that connected its remotest areas with efficiency. It LEADERS OF THE The Union of Soviet Socialist had a domestic consumer SOVIET UNION Republics (USSR) came into being industry that produced everything Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) after the socialist revolution in from pins to cars, though their Founder of the Bolshevik Russia in 1917. The revolution was quality did not match that of the Communist party; leader of the Western capitalist countries. The Russian Revolution inspired by the ideals of socialism, of 1917 and the as opposed to capitalism, and the Soviet state ensured a minimum founder-head of need for an egalitarian society. This standard of living for all citizens, the USSR during was perhaps the biggest attempt and the government subsidised the most difficult basic necessities including health, period following din human history to abolish the education, childcare and other the revolution einstitution of private property and welfare schemes. There was no (1917-1924); an unemployment. State ownership outstanding consciously design a society based was the dominant form of theoretician and ownership: land and productive practitioner of hon principles of equality. In doing assets were owned and controlled Marxism and a by the Soviet state. source of so, the makers of the Soviet system inspiration for The Soviet system, however, RT lisgave primacy to the state and thebecame very bureaucratic and notcommunists all authoritarian, making life very institution of the party. The Soviet difficult for its citizens. Lack of over the world. political system centred around democracy and the absence of freedom of speech stifled people who E bthe communist party, and no other often expressed their dissent in jokes and cartoons. Most of the political party or opposition was institutions of the Soviet state needed reform: the one-party C uallowed. The economy was planned system represented by the N pand controlled by the state. Communist Party of the Soviet reAfter the Second World War, Union had tight control over all institutions and was unaccountable the east European countries that the Soviet army had liberated from ©the fascist forces came under the econtrol of the USSR. The political band the economic systems of all these countries were modelled after the USSR. This group of tocountries was called the Second World or the ‘socialist bloc’. The to the people. The party refused to Warsaw Pact, a military alliance, recognise the urge of people in the held them together. The USSR was fifteen different republics that formed the leader of the bloc. the Soviet Union to manage their The Soviet Union became a own affairs including their cultural great power after the Second affairs. Although, on paper, Russia World War. The Soviet economy was only one of the fifteen republics was then more developed than the that together constituted the USSR, rest of the world except for the US. in reality Russia dominated It had a complex communications everything, and people from other network, vast energy resources regions felt neglected and often including oil, iron and steel, suppressed.

The End of Bipolarity 19 In the arms race, the Soviet Gorbachev, did not intervene Union managed to match the US from time to time, but at great when the disturbances occurred, cost. The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology, and the communist regimes infrastructure (e.g. transport, power), and most importantly, in collapsed one after another. LEADERS OF THE fulfilling the political or economic SOVIET UNION aspirations of citizens. The Soviet These developments were invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 accompanied by a rapidly weakened the system even further. Though wages continued escalating crisis within the USSR to grow, productivity and technology fell considerably that hastened its disintegration. Joseph Stalin behind that of the West. This led Gorbachev initiated the policies of(1879-1953) to shortages in all consumer economic and political reform and Successor to Lenin goods. Food imports increased democratisation within the and led the Soviet every year. The Soviet economy Union during its was faltering in the late 1970s and dcountry. The reforms were consolidation became stagnant. (1924-53); began opposed by leaders within the rapid GORBACHEV AND THE industrialisation eCommunist Party. and forcible DISINTEGRATION hA coup took place in 1991 that collectivisation of RT liswas encouraged by Communist agriculture; Mikhail Gorbachev, who had credited with become General Secretary of the Party hardliners. The people had Soviet victory in tasted freedom by then and did not the Second World ©Communist Party of the Soviet want the old-style rule of the War; held responsible for the Union in 1985, sought to reform E bCommunist Party. Boris Yeltsin Great Terror of the this system. Reforms were C uemerged as a national hero in 1930s, necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and opposing this coup. The Russian totechnological revolutions taking N pRepublic, where Yeltsin won a repopular election, began to shake place in the West. However, Gorbachev’s decision to normalise off centralised control. Power began to shift from the Soviet trelations with the West and centre to the republics, especially democratise and reform the Soviet ein the more Europeanised part of bthe Soviet Union, which saw oUnion had some other effects that themselves as sovereign states. authoritarian nneither he nor anyone else The Central Asian republics did functioning and intended or anticipated. The elimination of people in the East European not ask for independence and countries which were part of the rivals within the Soviet bloc started to protest against their own governments wanted to remain with the Soviet party. and Soviet control. Unlike in the past, the Soviet Union, under Federation. In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned. Capitalism and democracy were adopted as the bases for the post-Soviet republics.

20 Contemporary World Politics A Communist Party bureaucrat drives down from Moscow to a collective farm to register a potato harvest. “Comrade farmer, how has the harvest been this year?” the official asks. LEADERS OF THE “Oh, by the grace of God, we had mountains of potatoes,” answers the SOVIET UNION farmer. Nikita Khrushchev “But there is no God,” counters the official. (1894-1971) Leader of the “Huh”, says the farmer, “And there are no mountains of potatoes either.” Soviet Union (1953-64); The declaration on the there may be more general lessons denounced disintegration of the USSR and the to be drawn from this very Stalin’s leadership formation of the Commonwealth important case. style and introduced some dof Independent States (CIS) came There is no doubt that the reforms in 1956; eas a surprise to the other internal weaknesses of Soviet suggested political and economic institutions, “peaceful republics, especially to the Central which failed to meet the coexistence” with aspirations of the people, were the West; hAsian ones. The exclusion of these responsible for the collapse of the involved in RT lisrepublics was an issue that was system. Economic stagnation for suppressing many years led to sever e popular rebellion quickly solved by making them consumer shortages and a large in Hungary and in founding members of the CIS. section of Soviet society began to the Cuban missile Russia was now accepted as the doubt and question the system crisis. and to do so openly. E bsuccessor state of the Soviet not C uUnion. It inherited the Soviet seat Why did the system become so weak and why did the economy I am amazed! How in the UN Security Council. Russia stagnate? The answer is partially could so many clear. The Soviet economy used sensitive people all N paccepted all the international much of its resources in over the world retreaties and commitments of the maintaining a nuclear and admire a system like military arsenal and the this? Soviet Union. It took over as the development of its satellite states only nuclear state of the post- in Eastern Europe and within the ©Soviet space and carried out some enuclear disarmament measures with the US. The old Soviet Union bwas thus dead and buried. toWHY DID THE SOVIET UNION DISINTEGRATE? Soviet system (the five Central Asian Republics in particular). How did the second most powerful This led to a huge economic country in the world suddenly burden that the system could not disintegrate? This is a question cope with. At the same time, worth asking not just to ordinary citizens became more understand the Soviet Union and knowledgeable about the the end of communism but also economic advance of the West. because it is not the first and may They could see the disparities not be the last political system to between their system and the collapse. While there are unique systems of the West. After years features of the Soviet collapse, of being told that the Soviet

The End of Bipolarity 21 system was better than Western impossible to control. There were capitalism, the reality of its backwardness came as a political sections of Soviet society which felt and psychological shock. that Gorbachev should have The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and moved much faster and were LEADERS OF THE political sense as well. The disappointed and impatient with SOVIET UNION Communist Party that had ruled his methods. They did not benefit the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to the people. in the way they had hoped, or they Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, benefited too slowly. Others, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes especially members of the Leonid Brezhnev it had made, the unwillingness to Communist Party and those who (1906-82) allow more openness in were served by the system, took Leader of the government, and the centralisation exactly the opposite view. They felt Soviet Union (1964- of authority in a vast land. Worse 82); proposed still, the party bureaucrats gained dthat their power and privileges Asian Collective more privileges than ordinary ewere eroding and Gorbachev was Security system; citizens. People did not identify associated with with the system and with the moving too quickly. In this ‘tug of the détente phase rulers, and the government in relations with increasingly lost popular backing. hwar’, Gorbachev lost support on all the US; involved in RT lissides and divided public opinion.suppressing a Gorbachev’s reforms promised popular rebellion Even those who were with him in Czechoslovakia ©to deal with theseproblems. became disillusioned as they felt and in invading Afghanistan. Gorbachev promised to reform the E bthat he did not adequately defend economy, catch up with the West, and loosen the administrative his own policies. system. You may wonder why the Soviet Union collapsed in spite of C uAll this might not have led to N pthe collapse of the Soviet Union but toGorbachev’s accurate diagnosis of for another development that the problem and his attempt to implement reforms. Here is where resurprised most observers and tthe answers become more indeed many insiders. The rise of ocontroversial, and we have to nationalism and the desire for ndepend on future historians to esovereignty within various guide us better. brepublics including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia The most basic answer seems to be that when Gorbachev carried and Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia, out his reforms and loosened the system, he set in motion forces and and others proved to be the final expectations that few could have predicted and became virtually and most immediate cause for the disintegration of the USSR. Here again there are differing views. One view is that nationalist urges and feelings were very much at work throughout the history of the Soviet Union and that whether or not the reforms had occurred there would have been an internal struggle within the Soviet Union. This is a ‘what-if’ of history, but surely it is not an unreasonable

22 Contemporary World Politics view given the size and diversity of Ironically, during the Cold War the Soviet Union and its growing many thought that nationalist internal problems. Others think unrest would be strongest in the LEADERS OF THE that Gorbachev’s reforms speeded Central Asian republics given their SOVIET UNION up and increased nationalist ethnic and religious differences with Mikhail Gorbachev dissatisfaction to the point that the rest of the Soviet Union and their (Born 1931) Last leader of the the government and rulers could economic backwardness. However, Soviet Union (1985-91); not control it. as things turned out, nationalist introduced economic and TIMELINE OF DISINTEGRATION political reform policies of OF THE SOVIET UNION perestroika (restructuring) d1985 March: Mikhail Gorbachev elected as the General Secretary of the and glasnost eCommunist Party of the Soviet Union; appoints Boris Yeltsin as the head of the (openness); stopped the arms Communist Party in Moscow; initiates a series of reforms in the Soviet Union race with the US; withdrew Soviet h1988: Independence movement begins in Lithuania; later spreads to Estonia troops from RT lisandLatvia Afghanistan and eastern Europe; 1989 October: Soviet Union declares that the Warsaw Pact members are free nothelped in the E bto decide their own futures; Berlin Wall falls in November unification of 1990 February: Gorbachev strips the Soviet Communist Party of its 72-year-long Germany; ended the Cold War; C umonopoly on power by calling on the Soviet parliament (Duma) to permit multi- blamed for the disintegration of party politics the Soviet Union. N rep1990 March: Lithuania becomes the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare its independence ©1990 June: Russian parliament declares its independence from the Soviet Union e1991 June: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, becomes the President of bRussia 1991 August: The Communist Party hardliners stage an abortive coup against toGorbachev 1991 September: Three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become UN members (later join NATO in March 2004) 1991 December: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decide to annul the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the CIS (Georgia joins later in 1993); Russia takes over the USSR seat in the United Nations 1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; the end of the Soviet Union

The End of Bipolarity 23 dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union changed. The end of the Cold War was strongest in the more “European” and prosperous part – left open only two possibilities: in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and Georgia. either the remaining superpower Ordinary people here felt alienated from the Central Asians and from would dominate and create a LEADERS OF THE each other and concluded also that unipolar system, or different SOVIET UNION they were paying too high an countries or groups of countries economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet could become important players in Union. the international system, thereby CONSEQUENCES OF DISINTEGRATION bringing in a multipolar system Boris Yeltsin (Born where no one power could 1931) The collapse of the second world dominate. As it turned out, the US The first elected of the Soviet Union and the became the sole superpower. President of socialist systems in eastern Europe Russia (1991- had profound consequences for dBacked by the power and prestige 1999); rose to world politics. Let us note here eof the US, the capitalist economy power in the three broad kinds of enduring Communist Party changes that resulted from it. was now the dominant economic and was made Each of these had a number of the Mayor of effects that we cannot list here. hsystem internationally. Institutions Moscow by RT lislike the World Bank and Gorbachev; later ©First of all, it meant the end of joined the critics International Monetary Fund of Gorbachev Cold War confrontations. The became powerful advisors to all and left the ideological dispute over whether these countries since they gave Communist Party; the socialist system would beat the led the protests capitalist system was not an issue E bthem loans for their transitions to against the Soviet C ucapitalism. Politically, the notion of regime in 1991; toany more. Since this dispute had liberal democracy emerged as the engaged the military of the two blocs, had triggered a massive N pbest way to organise political life. reThird, the end of the Soviet bloc tarms race and accumulation of onuclear weapons, and had led to meant the emergence of many new countries. All these countries had the existence of military blocs, the etheir own independent aspirations nend of the confrontation demanded and choices. Some of them, an end to this arms race and a possible new peace. bespecially the Baltic and east European states, wanted to join the played a key role Second, power relations in world politics changed and, European Union and become part in dissolving the therefore, the relative influence of ideas and institutions also of the North Atlantic Tr eaty Soviet Union; Organisation (NATO). The Central blamed for Asian countries wanted to take hardships advantage of their geographical suffered by location and continue their closeties Russians in their with Russia and also to establish ties transition from with the West, the US, China and communism to capitalism. others. Thus, the international system saw many new players emerge, each with its own identity, interests, and economic and political difficulties. It is to these issues that we now turn.

24 Contemporary World Politics SHOCK THERAPY IN Each of these countries was POST-COMMUNIST REGIMES required to make a total shift to a capitalist economy, which The collapse of communism was meant rooting out completely any structures evolved during followed in most of these the Soviet period. Above all, it countries by a painful process of meant that private ownership transition from an authoritarian was to be the dominant pattern socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. The model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and e ast Europe that was dinfluenced by the World Bank eand the IMF came to be known as ‘shock therapy’. Shock therapy hvaried in intensity and speed RT lisamongst the former second world countries, but its direction and features were quite similar. I heard someone say of ownership of property. “The end of the Privatisation of state assets and Soviet Union does corporate ownership patterns not mean the end of were to be immediately brought socialism.” Is that in. Collective farms were to be possible? replaced by private farming and capitalism in agriculture. This not transition ruled out any alternate or ‘third way’, other than state-controlled socialism or capitalism. t©o NbeCErepubPOLITICAL MAP OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES, 1997 Locate the Central Asian Republics on the map. “Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin”

The End of Bipolarity 25 Shock therapy also involved a about 90 per cent of its industries drastic change in the external were put up for sale to private orientation of these economies. Development was now envisaged individuals and companies. Since through more trade, and thus a the restructuring was carried out sudden and complete switch to through market forces and not by free trade was considered government-directed industrial essential. The free trade regime policies, it led to the virtual and foreign direct investment (FDI) were to be the main engines disappearance of entire industries. of change. This also involved This was called ‘the largest garage openness to foreign investment, sale in history’, as valuable financial opening up or industries were undervalued and deregulation, and currency sold at throwaway prices. Though convertibility. dall citizens were given vouchers to Finally, the transition also eparticipate in the sales, most involved a break up of the existing trade alliances among the citizens sold their vouchers in the countries of the Soviet bloc. Each state from this bloc was now hblack market because they needed linked directly to the West and not RT listhe money. to each other in the region. These states were thus to be gradually The value of the ruble, the absorbed into the Wester n Russian currency, declined economic system. The Western capitalist states now became the E bdramatically. The rate of inflation ©leaders and thus guided and was so high that people lost all controled the development of the C utheir savings. The collective farm region through various agencies N psystem disintegrated leaving and organisations. people without food security, and toCONSEQUENCES OF SHOCK reRussia started to import food. The THERAPY real GDP of Russia in 1999 was otThe shock therapy administered in below what it was in 1989. The old the 1990s did not lead the people etrading structure broke down with bno alternative in its place. ninto the promised utopia of mass The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed. The I can see the shock. consumption. Generally, it withdrawal of government But where is the brought ruin to the economies and subsidies pushed large sections of therapy? Why do we disaster upon the people of the the people into poverty. The middle talk in such entire region. In Russia, the large classes were pushed to the euphemisms? state-controlled industrial periphery of society, and the complex almost collapsed, as academic and intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated. A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic activities. Privatisation led to new disparities. Post-Soviet states, especially Russia, were divided

26 Contemporary World Politics between rich and poor regions. TENSIONS AND CONFLICTS Unlike the earlier system, there Most of the former Soviet was now great economic inequality Republics are prone to conflicts, between people. and many have had civil wars and As a result of The construction of democratic insurgencies. Complicating the ‘shock therapy’ institutions was not given the picture is the growing involvement about half of same attention and priority as of outside powers. Russia’s 1,500 banks and other the demands of economic In Russia, two republics, finacial institutions transformation. The constitutions Chechnya and Dagestan, have went bankrupt. of all these countries were drafted had violent secessionist This image is that in a hurry and most, including movements. Moscow’s method of of Inkombank, dealing with the Chechen rebels Russia’s second dRussia, had a strong executive and indiscriminate military largest bank, that bombings have led to many went bankrupt in president with the widest possible human rights violations but failed 1998. As a result, to deter the aspirations for the money of epowers that rendered elected independence. 10,000 corporate hparliaments relatively weak. In and private In Central Asia, Tajikistan shareholders was Central Asia, the presidents had witnessed a civil war that went on lost, along with the for ten years till 2001. The region money kept in the RT lisgreat powers, and several of themas a whole has many sectarian bank by conflicts. In Azerbaijan’s province customers. became very authoritarian. For of Nagorno-Karabakh, some local example, the presidents of Armenians want to secede and notWhat is the difference join Armenia. In Georgia, the E bTurkmenistan and Uzbekistan demand for independence has between nationalism come from two provinces, and secessionism? If appointed themselves to power resulting in a civil war. There are you succeed, you are movements against the existing celebrated as a C ufirst for ten years and then regimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan nationalist hero, and if N pextended it for another ten years. and Georgia. Countries and you fail you are provinces are fighting over river condemned for crimes They allowed no dissent or waters. All this has led to of secessionism. instability, making life difficult for reopposition. A judicial culture and the ordinary citizen. independence of the judiciary was ©yet to be established in most of ethese countries. Most of these economies, bespecially Russia, started reviving in 2000, ten years after totheir independence. The reason for the revival for most of their economies was the export of natural resources like oil, natural gas and minerals. Azerbaijan, The Central Asian Republics are Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan a rea s with vast hydrocarbon and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas resources, which have brought producers. Other countries have them economic benefit. Central gained because of the oil Asia has also become a zone of pipelines that cross their competition between outside territories for which they get rent. powers and oil companies. The Some amount of manufacturing region is next to Russia, China, has restarted. Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and

The End of Bipolarity 27 close to West Asia. After 11 embedded in a history of trust and Make a list of September 2001, the US wanted common interests and are the similarities military bases in the region and matched by popular perceptions. paid the governments of all Central Indian heroes from Raj Kapoor to between Asian states to hire bases and to India and the allow airplanes to fly over their Amitabh Bachchan are household USSR in their territory during the wars in names in Russia and many post- Afghanistan and Iraq. However, Soviet countries. One can hear political and Russia perceives these states as its economic ‘Near Abroad’ and believes that they Hindi film songs all over the should be under Russian influence. region, and India is part of the ideologies. China has interests here because popular memory. of the oil resources, and the Chinese have begun to settle around the Russia and India share a vision borders and conduct trade. dof a multipolar world order. What In eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully they mean by a multipolar world into two, with the Czechs and the heBOLLYWOOD STIRS UZBEK Slovaks forming independent RT lisPASSIONS countries. But the most severe Seven years after the Soviet Union collapsed, the Uzbek conflict took place in the Balkan passion for Indian films continues. Within months of the republics of Yugoslavia. After 1991, it broke apart with several E brelease of the latest film in India, pirate copies were already provinces like Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on sale in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. declaring independence. Ethnic C uMohammed Sharif Pat runs a shop selling Indian films near ©Serbs opposed this, and a N pone of Tashkent’s biggest markets. He is an Afghan who massacre of non-Serb Bosnians brings videos from the Pakistani frontier town Peshawar. followed. The NATO intervention and the bombing of Yugoslavia re“There are many people who love Indian films here. I’d say followed the inter-ethnic civil war. at least 70% of the people in Tashkent buy them. We sell toINDIA AND POST-COMMUNIST about 100 videos a day. I’ve just had to put in an order for a tCOUNTRIES thousand more,” he says. “The Uzbeks are Central Asians, oIndia has maintained good nr elations with all the post- ethey are part of Asia. They have a common culture. That’s bwhy they like Indian films.” communist countries. But the Despite the shared history, for many Indians living in strongest relations are still those Uzbekistan, the passion the Uzbeks have for their films and between Russia and India. India’s film stars has come as a bit of a surprise. “Wherever we go relations with Russia are an and meet local dignitaries - even ministers or cabinet important aspect of India’s foreign policy. Indo-Russian relations are ministers - during our conversation it is always mentioned,” says Ashok Shamer from the Indian embassy in Tashkent. “This shows that Indian films, culture, songs and especially Raj Kapoor have been household names here. Most of them can sing some Hindi songs, they may not know the meaning but their pronunciation is correct and they know the music,” he says. “I have found out that almost all my neighbours can sing and play Hindi songs. This was really a big surprise to me when I came to Uzbekistan.” A report by theBBC’s Central Asia Correspondent Louise Hidalgo

28 Contemporary World Politics FLASHBACK: INDIA order is the co-existence of several powers in the AND THE USSR international system, collective security (in which an attack on any country is regarded as a threat to all countries and requires a collective response), greater During the Cold War era, India and regionalism, negotiated settlements of international the USSR enjoyed a special conflicts, an independent foreign policy for all countries, relationship which led critics to say and decision making through bodies like the UN that that India was part of the Soviet should be strengthened, democratised, and empowered. camp. It was a multi-dimensional More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signed relationship: between India and Russia as part of the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001. Economic: The Soviet Union assisted India stands to benefit from its relationship with dIndia’s public sector companies at a Russia on issues like Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information on international terrorism, time when such assistance was STEPS edifficult to get. It gave aid and ‹ Select any five Cold War allies each of the Soviet technical assistance for steel plants Union and the US. hlike Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam, RT lisand machinery plants like Bharat ‹ Divide the class accordingly (10 groups). Allot a Heavy Electricals Ltd., etc. The Soviet country to each group. Assign the group to Union accepted Indian currency for collect information on the political, social and trade when India was short of foreign economic profile of these countries during the Cold War days. E bexchange. C uPolitical: The Soviet Union supported ‹ They should also prepare a profile of that India’s positions on the Kashmir issue country after the collapse of communism and say what difference, if any, the disintegration of N pin the UN. It also supported India the second world made to that country. reduring its major conflicts, especially ‹ Each group is to present its findings to the entire during the war with Pakistan in 1971. India too supported Soviet foreign class. Ensure that students talk about how people of these countries felt about themselves ©policy in some crucial but indirect eways. bMilitary: India received most of its military hardware from the Soviet toUnion at a time when few other countries were willing to part with military technologies. The Soviet Union tentered into various agreements allowing India to jointly produce nomilitary equipment. Culture: Hindi films and Indian culture as citizens. were popular in the Soviet Union. A Ideas for the Teacher large number of Indian writers and artists visited the USSR. You could link the students’ findings to the working of the democratic system and communist system and highlight the pros and cons of both these systems. You could encourage the students to discuss if there is an alternative to both communism and capitalism.

The End of Bipolarity 29 access to Central Asia, and imports from Russia and the balancing its relations with republics of Kazakhstan and China. Russia stands to benefit Turkmenistan. Cooperation with from this relationship because these republics includes India is the second largest arms partnership and investment in market for Russia. The Indian oilfields. Russia is important for military gets most of its hardware India’s nuclear energy plans and from Russia. Since India is an oil- assisted India’s space industry by importing nation, Russia is important to India and has repeatedly come to the assistance of India during its oil crises. India dis seeking to increase its energy giving, for example, the cryogenic rocket when India needed it. Russia and India have collaborated on various scientific projects. he1. Which among the following statements that describe the nature of Soviet economy is wrong? Exercises RT lisa. Socialism was the dominant ideology b. State ownership/control existed over the factors of production E bc. People enjoyed economic freedom d. Every aspect of the economy was planned and controlled by C uthe State N p2. Arrange the following in chronological order: rea. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan b. Fall of the Berlin Wall ©c. Disintegration of the Soviet Union ed. Russian Revolution b3. Which among the following is NOT an outcome of the disintegration of the USSR? toa. End of the ideological war between the US and USSR b. Birth of CIS c. Change in the balance of power in the world order td. Crises in the Middle East no4. Match the following: i. Mikhail Gorbachev a. Successor of USSR ii. Shock Therapy b. Military pact iii. Russia c. Introduced reforms iv. Boris Yeltsin d. Economic model v. Warsaw e. President of Russia

30 Contemporary World Politics 5. Fill in the blanks. notExercises a. The Soviet political system was based on ___________________ ideology. b. _________________ was the military alliance started by the USSR. c. ____________________ party dominated the Soviet Union’s political system. d. ______________________ initiated the reforms in the USSR in 1985. e. The fall of the ____________________ symbolised the end of the Cold War. d6. Mention any three features that distinguish the Soviet economy from that of a capitalist country like the US. e7. What were the factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reforms hin the USSR? RT lis8. What were the major consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union for countries like India? 9. What was Shock Therapy? Was this the best way to make a transition E bfrom communism to capitalism? C u10. Write an essay for or against the following proposition: “With the disintegration of the second world, India should change its foreign N ppolicy and focus more on friendship with the US rather than with t©o be retraditional friends like Russia”.

OCUhSaHpetegr e3 mony inEWRoTrldbPolilistichs edVERVIEW C uWe have seen that the end of Cold N pWar left the US without any serious rival in the world. The era resince then has been described as a period of US dominance or a ©unipolar world. In this chapter, we etry to understand the nature, extent and limits of this bdominance. We begin by narrating the story of the rise of the new toworld order from the First Gulf War to the US-led invasion of Iraq. We then pause to understand the tnature of US domination with the help of the concept of ‘hegemony’. oAfter exploring the political, neconomic and cultural aspects of The attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001 has been seen as a US hegemony, we assess India’s watershed event in contemporary history. policy options in dealing with the US. Finally, we turn to see if there are challenges to this hegemony and whether it can be overcome.

32 Contemporary World Politics AYESHA, JABU AND ANDREI forced to study a subject that he has no interest in. In contrast, Ayesha was doing very well in her Ayesha has lost her leg and is studies at a high school in the lucky to be alive. How can we even outskirts of Baghdad, and was discuss their problems in the same planning to study medicine in breath? We can, and must, do so. university. She lost a leg in 2003 As we shall see in this chapter, all not when a missile slammed into an three have been, in different ways, air raid shelter in which she was affected by US hegemony. We will I’m glad I did not opt hiding with her friends. Now she meet Ayesha, Jabu and Andrei for the Science is learning to walk all over again. again. But let us first understand subjects. Or else I too how US hegemony began and how would have been a dShe still plans to become a doctor, it operates in the world today. victim of US ebut only after the foreign armies hegemony. Can you We will follow the popular think how and why? leave her country. usage of the word ‘America’ to refer to the United States of hJabu is a talented young artist America. But it may be useful to RT liswho lives in Durban, South Africa.remind ourselves that the expression America covers the two His paintings are heavily continents of North and South influenced by traditional tribal art America and that the US is only forms. He wants to go to art school one of the countries of the American continent. Thus, the use E band later open his own studio. of the word America solely for the C uHowever, his father wants him to US is already a sign of the US hegemony that we seek to study for an MBA and then join understand in this chapter. N pthe family business. The business BEGINNING OF THE ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’ is not doing too well; Jabu’s father The sudden collapse of the Soviet refeels that with an MBA degree, Jabu will be able to make the ©family business profitable. eAndrei is a young man living bin Perth, Australia. His parents are immigrants from Russia. His mother gets very angry every time toAndrei puts on blue jeans to go to church. She wants him to look Union took everyone by surprise. respectable in church. Andrei tells While one of the two superpowers his mother that jeans are “cool”, ceased to exist, the other remained that they give him the sense of with all its powers intact, even freedom. Andrei’s father reminds enhanced. Thus, it would appear his wife how they too used to wear that the US hegemony began in jeans when they were youngsters 1991 after Soviet power in Leningrad, and for the same disappeared from the international reason that their son now invokes. scene. This is largely correct, but Andrei has had an argument we need to keep in mind two riders with his mother. Jabu may be to this. First, as we shall see in this

US Hegemony in World Politics 33 NCERpTublishedThis picture of burned and broken vehicles was taken on the ‘Highway of Death’, a road between Kuwait and reBasra, on which the retreating Iraqi army was attacked by American aircraft during the First Gulf War in February 1991. Some commentators have suggested that the US forces deliberately bombed this stretch of highway where fleeing and ‘out of combat’ Iraqi soldiers were stuck in a frenzied traffic jam and that the victims included Kuwaiti ©prisoners and hostages and Palestinian civilian refugees. Many observers have called it a ‘war crime’ and a eviolation of the Geneva Convention. bchapter, some aspects of US series of diplomatic attempts failed hegemony did not emerge in 1991 at convincing Iraq to quit its but in fact go back to the end of aggression, the United Nations mandated the liberation of Kuwait tothe Second World War in 1945. by force. For the UN, this was a dramatic decision after years of Second, the US did not start deadlock during the Cold War. The behaving like a hegemonic power US President George H.W. Bush hailed the emergence of a ‘new tright from 1991; it became clear omuch later that the world was in nfact living in a period of hegemony. Let us therefore look at this world order’. process by which US hegemony A massive coalition force of got established more closely. 660,000 troops from 34 countries In August 1990, Iraq invaded fought against Iraq and defeated Kuwait, rapidly occupying and it in what came to be known as subsequently annexing it. After a the First Gulf War. However, the

34 Contemporary World Politics UN operation, which was called campaigned on domestic rather ‘Operation Desert Storm’, was than foreign policy issues. Bill overwhelmingly American. An Clinton won again in 1996 and American general, Nor m a n thus remained the president of the Schwarzkopf, led the UN coalition US for eight years. During the and nearly 75 per cent of the Clinton years, it often seemed that coalition forces were from the US. the US had withdrawn into its Although the Iraqi President, internal affairs and was not fully Saddam Hussein, had promised Is it true that the US has “the mother of all battles”, the engaged in world politics. In never fought a war on Iraqi forces were quickly defeated foreign policy, the Clinton its own land? Doesn’t government tended to focus on that make it easy for dand forced to withdraw from ‘soft issues’ like democracy Americans to get into promotion, climate change and military adventures? Kuwait. world trade rather than on the ‘hard politics’ of military power and not eThe First Gulf War revealed security. hthe vast technological gap that had RT lisopened up between the US military Nevertheless, the US on occasion did show its readiness to capability and that of other states. use military power even during the The highly publicised use of so- Clinton years. The most important called ‘smart bombs’ by the US led episode occurred in 1999, in response to Yugoslavian actions E bsome observers to call this a against the predominantly Albanian population in the ‘computer war’. Widespr ead province of Kosovo. The air forces of the NATO countries, led by the C utelevision coverage also made it a US, bombarded targets around N p‘video game war’, with viewers Yugoslavia for well over two months, forcing the downfall of around the world watching the the gover nment of Slobodan Milosevic and the stationing of a redestruction of Iraqi forces live on NATO force in Kosovo. TV in the comfort of their living ©rooms. eIncredibly, the US may actually have made a profit from bthe war. According to many reports, the US received more tomoney from countries like Germany, Japan and Saudi Another significant US military Arabia than it had spent on the action during the Clinton years was war. in response to the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya THE CLINTON YEARS and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in 1998. These bombings were Despite winning the First Gulf War, attributed to Al-Qaeda, a terrorist George H.W. Bush lost the US organisation strongly influenced by presidential elections of 1992 to extremist Islamist ideas. Within a William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton of few days of this bombing, President the Democratic Party, who had Clinton ordered Operation Infinite

US Hegemony in World Politics 35 This is ridiculous! NbeCEreRpTublishedThis is how The New York Times reported 9/11 in its edition the Does it mean following morning. that Sri Lanka can drop a write the month first, followed by missile on Paris if the date; hence the short form ‘9/ it suspects that 11’ instead of ‘11/9’ as we would some of the LTTE write in India). militants are hiding there? The attacks killed nearly three thousand persons. In terms of their Reach, a series of cruise missile shocking effect on Americans, they strikes on Al-Qaeda terrorist targets have been compared to the British in Sudan and Afghanistan. The US burning of Washington, DC in 1814 did not bother about the UN and the Japanese attack on Pearl sanction or provisions of Harbour in 1941. However, in terms international law in this regard. It of loss of life, 9/11 was the most was alleged that some of the targets were civilian facilities unconnected to terrorism. In retrospect, this was merely the beginning. 9/11 AND THE ‘GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR’ On 11 September 2001, nineteen ©hijackers hailing from a number of Arab countries took control of four American commercial aircraft shortly after takeoff and flew them into important buildings in the US. One airliner each crashed into tothe North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. A third aircraft crashed into the tPentagon building in Arlington, oVirginia, where the US Defence nDepartment is headquartered. The fourth aircraft, presumably bound for the Capitol building of the US Congress, came down in a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks have come to be known as “9/11”. (In America the convention is to

36 Contemporary World Politics severe attack on US soil since the Qaeda have remained potent, as founding of the country in 1776. is clear from the number of The US response to 9/11 was terrorist attacks launched by swift and ferocious. Clinton had them against Western targets been succeeded in the US since. presidency by George W. Bush The US forces made arrests of the Republican Party, son of all over the world, often without Do they also have the earlier President George H. the knowledge of the government political dynasties in W. Bush. Unlike Clinton, Bush of the persons being arrested, the US? Or was this the had a much harder view of US transported these persons only exception? interests and of the means by across countries and detained them in secret prisons. Some of not dwhich to advance them. As a part them were brought to eof its ‘Global War on Terror’, the Guantanamo Bay, a US Naval base in Cuba, where the US launched ‘Operation prisoners did not enjoy the protection of international law or hEnduring Freedom’ against all the law of their own country or RT listhose suspected to be behind that of the US. Even the UN representatives were not allowed this attack, mainly Al-Qaeda and to meet these prisoners. the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban regime E bwas easily overthrown, but t©o NbeCrepuremnants of the Taliban and Al- © Andy Singer, Cagle Cartoons Inc. © Andy Singer, Cagle Cartoons Inc. Suppose you are the Secretary of State in the US (their equivalent of our Minister of External Affairs). How would you react in a press conference to these cartoons?

US Hegemony in World Politics 37 THE IRAQ INVASION On 19 March 2003, the US [Map of Post-Soviet Countries] launched its invasion of Iraq under NCEreRpTublishedSoldier World Map the codename ‘Operation Iraqi © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc.WHAT DOES HEGEMONY Freedom’. More than forty other countries joined in the US-led beMEAN? ‘coalition of the willing’ after the UN Politics is about power. Just as refused to give its mandate to the individuals want to gain and invasion. The ostensible purpose of retain power, groups too want to the invasion was to prevent Iraq gain and retain power. We from developing weapons of mass routinely talk of someone destruction (WMD). Since no becoming powerful or someone evidence of WMD has been doing something for power. In the unearthed in Iraq, it is speculated case of world politics too, that the invasion was motivated by countries and groups of countries other objectives, such as controlling are engaged in constantly trying Iraqi oilfields and installing a regime to gain and retain power. This friendly to the US. power is in the form of military domination, economic power, Although the government of political clout and cultural Saddam Hussein fell swiftly, the superiority. US has not been able to ‘pacify’ Iraq. Instead, a full-fledged insurgency against US occupation was ignited in Iraq. While the US has lost over 3,000 military ©personnel in the war, Iraqi casualties are very much higher. It is conservatively estimated that 50,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US-led invasion. toIt is now widely recognised that the US invasion of Iraq was, in some crucial respects, both a tmilitary and political failure. noList the post- Cold War conflicts/wars in which the US played a critical role.

38 Contemporary World Politics © Angel Boligan, Cagle Cartoons Inc. is called a ‘unipolar’ system. This appears to be a misapplication of the idea of ‘pole’ derived from physics. It may be more appropriate to describe an international system with only one centre of power by the term ‘hegemony’. NCEreRpTublishedEntitled ‘Under US Thumb’, this cartoon captures our We can identify three very different understandings of what commonsensical understanding of what hegemony means. hegemony is. Let us examine each What does this cartoon say about the nature of US hegemony? of these meanings of hegemony and relate them to contemporary ©Which part of the world is the cTahrtoeorenifsot traelk,inigf awboeutw? anted tointernational politics. eunderstand world politics, it is HEGEMONY AS HARD necessary that we understand the POWER bdistribution of power among the The roots of the word hegemony countries of the world. For lie in classical Greek. The word implies the leadership or toinstance, during the years of the predominance of one state, and was originally used to denote the Cold War (1945-91) power was preponderant position of Athens divided between the two groups of vis-à-vis the other city-states of ancient Greece. Thus, the first t countries, and the US and the meaning of hegemony relates to the Soviet Union represented the two relations, patterns and balances of military capability between states. o ‘camps’ or centres of power in It is this notion of hegemony as n international politics during that military preponderance that is especially germane to the current position and role of the US in world politics. Do you remember Ayesha, who lost her leg in an American missile attack? It is hard power hegemony that has broken Ayesha’s body, if not her spirit. Why use such period. The collapse of the Soviet The bedrock of contemporary complicated words Union left the world with only a US power lies in the overwhelming like hegemony? In single power, the United States superiority of its military power. my town they call it of America. Sometimes, the American military dominance dadagiri. Isn’t that international system dominated by today is both absolute and better? a sole superpower, or hyper-power, relative. In absolute terms, the US

US Hegemony in World Politics 39 US COMMAND STRUCTURE USEUCOM USNORTHCOM edUSSOUTHCOM USCENTCOM RT lishUSPACOM E bSource: http://www.army.mil/institution/organization/areaof_responsibility.jpg NC putoday has military capabilities chasm that no other power can at Most armed forces that can reach any point on the present conceivably span. in the world divide their areas of replanet accurately, lethally and in Undoubtedly, the US invasion operation into of Iraq reveals several American various real time, thereby crippling the vulnerabilities. The US has not ‘commands’ been able to force the Iraqi people which are ©adversary while its own forces are into submitting to the occupation assigned to esheltered to the maximum extent forces of the US-led coalition. To fully understand the nature of different possible from the dangers of war. American weakness, however, we commanders. This need to have a historical map depicts the bBut even more awesome than perspective. Imperial powers areas of through history have used responsibility of the the absolute capabilities of the US military forces to accomplish only five Commands of four tasks: to conquer, deter, the US armed tois the fact that no other power punish and police. As the Iraq forces. It shows that the today can remotely match them. commands of the The US today spends more on its US military are not tmilitary capability than the limited to the area of the United next 12 powers combined. States; it extends oFurthermore, a large chunk of the to include the nPentagon’s budget goes into military research and development, invasion shows, the American or, in other words, technology. capacity to conquer is formidable. whole world. What Thus, the military dominance of Similarly, the US capability to does this map tell the US is not just based on higher deter and to punish is self-evident. us about the military spending, but on a Where US military capability has military power of qualitative gap, a technological thus far been shown to have the US?