Crises of the Cold War briefly. Cold War periods and international crises. Causes of the Cold War - briefly and point by point
3. What was the balance of power in Greece during the civil war? Why did the USSR refrain from actively helping the Greek communists?
4. What claims did the USSR put forward against Turkey? What was the US position during the crisis?
The first obvious consequences of the Soviet foreign policy strategy were the Iranian, Greek and Turkish crises.
According to the Potsdam decisions, after the end of the world war, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain were to withdraw their troops from Iran, where they were introduced in 1942 to prevent Iran's reorientation towards Germany.
Keyword
A crisis- a sharp aggravation of contradictions between states, capable of developing into a full-scale war at any moment. As a rule, crises occur against the backdrop of an acute shortage of time resources for the political and diplomatic settlement of the dispute. In the development of the crisis, several main phases are distinguished: creeping, culmination (the highest point), from which events can develop either to war or to compromise and settlement (the phase of overcoming the crisis).
On September 13, 1945, the Iranian government asked the three powers to withdraw their troops. American troops were evacuated by January 1, 1946. By March 2, the British left Iran. The Soviet Union refused to name a date for the withdrawal of troops. There were reasons for this. In Iran in last years During the Second World War there was an increase in the national-revolutionary fermentation of ethnic minorities - Azerbaijanis in the northwest, in Iranian Azerbaijan, and Kurds in the southwest, in Iranian Kurdistan. These were separatist movements whose leaders sought broad autonomy from the all-Iranian government in Tehran. The leadership of Iran, as well as in Western capitals, suspected that the USSR might assist the separatists in order to separate Iranian Azerbaijan from Iran and unite it with Soviet Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan SSR). On November 18, 1945, an uprising began in Iranian Azerbaijan, organized by the People's Party of Iran (the Tudeh Party, in fact, the Iranian Communist Party). The central government sent troops from Tehran to suppress the rebellion, but they were not allowed into the area covered by it by Soviet forces. In March 1946, the Iranian government filed a complaint with the UN Security Council about the actions of the Soviet military authorities.
The USSR also used the question of the presence of its troops on Iranian territory as a means of putting pressure on Tehran in order to obtain oil concessions from it in northern Iran. Soviet-Iranian negotiations on the withdrawal of troops, linked to the problem of oil concessions, were difficult.
Public opinion in Great Britain, whose zone of influence had been southern Iran for many years, reacted especially violently to the events. Now that the British troops had left and the Soviets remained, British politicians felt betrayed. At the height of the Iranian crisis, on March 5, 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who retired in 1945, delivered his famous diatribe against the USSR while speaking at Westminster College in Fulton (Missouri, USA). W. Churchill accused Moscow of creating an "iron curtain" dividing the world into two parts, and called for strengthening the "Anglo-Saxon partnership" between the US and Britain in the interests of countering the communist threat. During the speech of the British politician, US President Harry Truman was in the hall, who did not develop the ideas stated by W. Churchill, but did not express disagreement with them either. In the world, the "Fulton speech" was perceived as a manifesto " cold war”, the beginning of which, figuratively speaking, was announced by the retired British prime minister.
Winston Churchill's speech received international resonance largely because I. V. Stalin directly responded to it. On March 14, 1946, in a special interview, he spoke sharply about this speech, stating that in essence it meant a call to war. The press picked up Stalin's careless statements and the problem of "war" between the USSR and the West became the motive for newspaper comments. As a result, in the political atmosphere in different countries ah, the world began to be inflated with fears. The confrontation between the USSR and the West began to escalate.
Keyword
Escalation- growth, escalation of tension, aggravation of the situation or
conflict.
The Iranian crisis was resolved during the Soviet-Iranian dialogue by April 1946. As a compromise, agreements were reached on the creation of a Soviet-Iranian oil society on favorable terms for the USSR and on expanding the representation of delegates from Iranian Azerbaijan in the Iranian Mejlis. By May 9, 1946, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Iran, and in June the consequences of the uprising in Iranian Azerbaijan were eliminated. In September of the same year, separatist pockets in Iranian Kurdistan (Fars province) were suppressed.
At the end of the crisis, Washington remained convinced that Moscow was forced to make concessions by the principled position of the United States and Britain on Iran. JV Stalin concluded that a British-American alliance was being formed against the USSR.
2, After the country was occupied by German troops in June 1941, King George II fled the country with his family. In the occupied territory, partisan movement, in which the Communists played an important role - the People's Liberation Army of the Greek People (ELAS). By 1945, its forces had liberated about two-thirds of the country from German troops. Meanwhile, in October 1944, with the support of the Western allies, parts of the armed forces of the royal government arrived in Greece, which clashed with communist detachments. The conflict lasted until February 1945. Although the Soviet Union had influence on the Greek communists and could provide assistance to them through the territory of Yugoslavia, controlled by the forces of J. B. Tito, I. V. Stalin did not want to aggravate relations with Great Britain, whose sphere of influence included Gretzsch , according to the tacit agreements of the "Big Three" during the war years. The Greek communists were advised to yield. On February 12, 1945, in the town of Varkiza, near Athens, agreements were signed between the leaders of the left-wing detachments and the royal government, according to which power was transferred to the latter. Part of the Greek communists did not agree with this decision.
In the summer of 1946, the crisis escalated due to attempts by the authorities to increase military pressure on the left. A civil war broke out in Greece, which lasted until 1949. In the Western capitals, responsibility for it was placed on Moscow, which was only partly true. Although the Greek communists had the opportunity to receive assistance from abroad, the USSR continued to refrain from such support, including because of the desire not to irritate friendly Bulgaria, which itself had territorial claims against Greece and was suspicious of the militancy of the Greek communists. In fact, the main initiator of helping the Greek communists was J. B. Tito.
3. In February 1945, Turkey formally declared war on Germany, but did not conduct military operations against it. Relations between the USSR and Turkey during the World War were riddled with mutual distrust. Moscow expected Ankara's speech on the side of Germany and prepared for it. But Turkey evaded entry into the war and benefited from it. The Soviet Union had no formal grounds to enter into a conflict with Turkey, especially since between the two countries there had been a periodically extended Treaty of Friendship and Neutrality since 1925. It was last extended for 10 years in 1935 in such a way that its validity period was to expire on September 7, 1945. On March 19, 1945, 6 months before its expiration, the USSR, as provided for in the text treaty, notified the Turkish government of its intention not to renew it. In Ankara, this was regarded as a warning about the toughening of the USSR's attitude towards Turkey.
At the Potsdam Conference, the Soviet Union tried to achieve the right to ensure the security of the straits along with Turkey. But these demands of the USSR were not supported. In view of its decision to terminate the Soviet-Turkish treaty, the Soviet Union tried to obtain from Ankara an advantageous security regime in the strait zone at the bilateral level. On August 7, 1946, a note was sent to the Turkish government with a proposal to enter into negotiations on changing the navigation regime in the Black Sea straits and allowing the USSR to create a Soviet military base in the straits zone. The content of the note was immediately brought to the attention of the Turkish side by the US Secretary of State James Francis Byrnes, who at that moment was in Paris.
According to American sources, the Soviet note was taken seriously in Washington, as the American leadership did not cease to reproach itself for the "softness" shown in relation to the actions of the USSR during the Iranian crisis, and sought to behave more firmly this time. In the United States, the question of possible measures of military counteraction to the USSR was discussed if, following the note, it would take military actions against Turkey. In the spring-autumn of 1946, based on reports from American and British intelligence about the concentration Soviet troops in Romania, Bulgaria and on the territory of the Soviet Transcaucasia (according to various sources, up to 600,000 Soviet troops were stationed in Romania, and up to 235,000 in Bulgaria), in the USA and Great Britain they were inclined to believe the possibility of a Soviet armed uprising against Turkey.
However, soon American representatives from Turkey and Moscow began to report to Washington that there were no signs of the Soviet side's intention to take steps against Ankara. The crisis did not follow. The Turkish government, upon receiving the note, according to Western sources, also considered it less harsh than it had expected. Moscow did not intend to go into conflict. Perhaps, given the painful reaction of the United States and Britain to the note on the straits, the Soviet government did not insist on accepting its demands. In October, American and British intelligence recorded a decrease in Soviet activity near the borders of Turkey. However, officially the USSR did not renounce its claims to Ankara until May 30, 1953.
The US leadership learned from the Turkish situation the conviction that bases in Eastern Mediterranean and providing military and economic assistance to Turkey to modernize its military capabilities. Washington paid more attention to oil supplies from the Middle East, the security of which depended on the situation in the Mediterranean. Greece and Turkey, separating this region from the USSR, acquired special significance for American strategic planning.
Minimum knowledge
1. USSR in 1945-1946 tried to check the degree of readiness of the Western allies to protect the "disputed", in his opinion, countries and territories and, if possible, to attach them to his zone of influence. In Iran, the USSR supported the anti-government movements of Kurdistan and Iranian Azerbaijan. Churchill's speech in Fulton, in which he called for the unification of the Anglo-Saxon world against the USSR, which had separated itself with the Iron Curtain, provoked a painful reaction from Stalin, which led to an escalation of international tension.
2. Despite the significant opportunities for the Greek communists to spread their power in the country, the USSR did not provide them with significant assistance, based on allied agreements with Britain from the time anti-Hitler coalition.
3. The USSR sought to close the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles for the passage of warships of non-Black Sea powers. Therefore, he proposed the idea of "joint defense" of the Black Sea straits. Relying on the support of the United States, Turkey rejected this proposal. AT public opinion Western countries spread ideas about the aggressive intentions of the USSR towards Turkey.
The main events of international politics in the second half of the 20th century were determined by the cold war between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA.
Its consequences are felt to this day, and moments of crisis in relations between Russia and the West are often called the echoes of the Cold War.
What started the cold war
The term "cold war" belongs to the pen of the prose writer and publicist George Orwell, who used this phrase in 1945. However, the beginning of the conflict is associated with the speech of the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, delivered by him in 1946 in the presence of American President Harry Truman.
Churchill declared that an "Iron Curtain" would be erected in the middle of Europe, to the east of which there was no democracy.
Churchill's speech had the following premises:
- the establishment of communist governments in the states liberated by the Red Army from fascism;
- the activation of the left underground in Greece (which led to civil war);
- the strengthening of the communists in such Western European countries as Italy and France.
Soviet diplomacy also took advantage of this, laying claims to the Turkish straits and Libya.
The main signs of the beginning of the cold war
In the first months after the victorious May 1945, in the wake of sympathy for the eastern ally in the anti-Hitler coalition, Soviet films were freely shown in Europe, and the attitude of the press towards the USSR was neutral or benevolent. In the Soviet Union, for a while, they forgot about the stamps that represented the West as the kingdom of the bourgeoisie.
With the onset of the Cold War, cultural contacts were curtailed, and the rhetoric of confrontation prevailed in diplomacy and the media. Briefly and clearly, the peoples were told who their enemy was.
All over the world there were bloody skirmishes of the allies of one side or another, and the Cold War participants themselves unleashed an arms race. This is the name given to the build-up in the arsenals of Soviet and American military weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons.
Military spending drained state budgets and slowed down post-war economic recovery.
Causes of the Cold War - briefly and point by point
There were several reasons for the outbreak of conflict:
- Ideological - the insolubility of contradictions between societies built on different political foundations.
- Geopolitical - the parties feared each other's dominance.
- Economic - the desire of the West and the Communists to use the economic resources of the opposite side.
Stages of the Cold War
The chronology of events is divided into 5 main periods
The first stage - 1946-1955
During the first 9 years, a compromise was still possible between the victors of fascism, which both sides were looking for.
The United States strengthened its position in Europe thanks to the Marshall Plan economic assistance program. Western countries united in NATO in 1949, and the Soviet Union successfully tested nuclear weapons.
In 1950, the war broke out in Korea, where both the USSR and the USA participated to varying degrees. Stalin dies, but the Kremlin's diplomatic position does not change significantly.
The second stage - 1955-1962
Communists face opposition from the populations of Hungary, Poland and the GDR. In 1955, an alternative to the Western Alliance appeared - the Warsaw Pact Organization.
The arms race is moving to the stage of creating intercontinental missiles. A side effect of military developments was space exploration, the launch of the first satellite and the first cosmonaut of the USSR. The Soviet bloc is strengthened at the expense of Cuba, where Fidel Castro comes to power.
Third stage - 1962-1979
After the Caribbean crisis, the parties are trying to curb the military race. In 1963, an agreement was signed to ban atomic tests in air, space and under water. In 1964, the conflict in Vietnam begins, provoked by the desire of the West to defend this country from leftist rebels.
In the early 1970s, the world entered the era of "détente". Its main characteristic is the desire for peaceful coexistence. The parties limit strategic offensive weapons and prohibit biological and chemical weapons.
The peace diplomacy of Leonid Brezhnev in 1975 was crowned with the signing by 33 countries in Helsinki of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. At the same time, the Soyuz-Apollo joint program was launched with the participation of Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts.
Fourth stage - 1979-1987
In 1979, the Soviet Union sent an army to Afghanistan to install a puppet government. In the wake of aggravated contradictions, the United States refused to ratify the SALT-2 treaty, signed earlier by Brezhnev and Carter. The West is boycotting the Olympics in Moscow.
President Ronald Reagan showed himself as a tough anti-Soviet politician by launching the SDI program - strategic defense initiatives. American missiles are located in close proximity to the territory Soviet Union.
Fifth period - 1987-1991
This stage was given the definition of "new political thinking".
The transfer of power to Mikhail Gorbachev and the beginning of perestroika in the USSR meant the renewal of contacts with the West and the gradual abandonment of ideological intransigence.
Crises of the Cold War
The crises of the Cold War in history are called several periods of the greatest aggravation of relations between rival parties. Two of them - the Berlin crises of 1948-1949 and 1961 - associated with the formation of three political entities on the site of the former Reich - the GDR, the FRG and West Berlin.
In 1962, the USSR deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, threatening the security of the United States - these events were called the Caribbean Crisis. Subsequently, Khrushchev dismantled the missiles in exchange for the Americans withdrawing the missiles from Turkey.
When and how did the Cold War end?
In 1989, the Americans and Russians announced the end of the Cold War. In fact, this meant the dismantling of the socialist regimes of Eastern Europe, right up to Moscow itself. Germany united, the Department of Internal Affairs collapsed, and then the USSR itself.
Who won the cold war
In January 1992, George W. Bush declared: "With the help of the Lord God, America won the Cold War!" His jubilation at the end of the confrontation was not shared by many residents of the countries former USSR where the time of economic upheaval and criminal chaos began.
In 2007, a bill was submitted to the US Congress establishing a medal for participation in the Cold War. For the American establishment, the theme of the victory over communism remains an important element of political propaganda.
Results
Why the socialist camp turned out to be weaker than the capitalist one and what was its significance for humanity are the main final questions of the Cold War. The consequences of these events are being felt even in the 21st century. The collapse of the left forces led to economic growth, democratic reforms, a surge of nationalism and religious intolerance in the world.
Along with this, the armaments accumulated during these years are preserved, and the governments of Russia and Western countries act largely on the basis of the concepts and stereotypes learned during the armed confrontation.
The Cold War, which lasted 45 years, is for historians the most important process of the second half of the twentieth century, which determined the outlines of the modern world.
OBJ teacher
Kovalev Alexander Prokofievich
- The Cold War is
2. Creation of a collective security system
3. "Hot spots" - "Cold War"
Berlin Crisis;
Arab-Israeli conflict;
Korean War;
Caribbean crisis;
Afghan war";
4. Conclusion
OBJ teacher
Kovalev Alexander Prokofievich
Secondary school №1
Mozdok
The Cold War is a state of intense confrontation in relations between capitalist and socialist countries led by the USA and the USSR.
The term "Cold War" was coined in 1946. One of the main theorists of this confrontation, the founder and first head of the CIA Allen Dulles considered it the pinnacle of strategic art - "balancing on the brink of war."
The expression "Cold War" was first used on April 16, 1947 in a speech Bernard Boruch, adviser to US President Harry Truman in front of the South Carolina House of Representatives.
However, the term "Cold War" was first used in his work "You and the Atomic Bomb" George Orwell, in which the "Cold War" meant a long economic, geopolitical and ideological war between the United States, the Soviet Union and their allies.
"Cold War" is a state of economic, ideological, political and paramilitary confrontation between two systems (socialism and communism).
THE REASONS:
- The USSR after the Victory sought to surround itself with a belt of friendly states;
2. The US sought to draw the countries of Europe into its sphere of economic influence;
3. The anxiety of the USA and England about the further expansion of the spheres of influence of the USSR
USSR and the socialist camp
USA and Western countries
IMAGE OF THE ENEMY
March 5, 1946 - Churchill's speech in Fulton - a call to fight against the expansion of communism;
March 1947 - "The Truman Doctrine:
a) - the doctrine of deterrence;
b) - the doctrine of rejection
Soviet atomic bombing plan
starting from 1946
Creation of the Soviet atomic bomb 1949
Creation of NATO 1949
Establishment of ATS
Splitting Germany in two
States of Germany and the GDR
Having survived two wars, people realized how important it is to keep the peace. After the Second World War, the victorious countries created the United Nations - the UN. Representatives of different countries are discussing issues of international life in order to maintain peace on Earth.
The name "United Nations" was proposed by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was first used in the "Declaration of the United Nations" signed on January 1, 1942, according to which representatives of 26 states pledged on behalf of their governments to continue their struggle against the Axis "Rome-Berlin -Tokyo"
April 25 - June 26, 1945 conference in San Francisco. Creation of the United Nations - UN.
The highest body of the UN:
- General Assembly(sessions once a year);
- Security Council(11 members, of which five permanent members are "world policemen": the USSR, the USA, England, France, China)
Ghost of the Cold War local conflicts:
1945- the conflict in Iran;
1946- the conflict around Turkey;
1946-1949- civil war in Greece;
1948-1949- conflict in Germany;
1949- conflict in China;
1945 - 1954 Indo-Chinese conflict;
1948 - 1949 Arab-Israeli conflict;
1950 - 1953 Korean War;
1956– England + France + Israel
Egypt + USSR;
1961– Berlin crisis;
1962- Caribbean crisis;
1966 - 1973 Vietnam War;
1979 - 1989 Afghan war;
1983- SOI program
(strategic defense initiative);
"Cold War"- this is an ideological and political confrontation between the former allies, which is characterized by: the division of the world into military-political blocs, the conduct of an ideological propaganda war, active participation in military
The end of the forties - the sixties, the extreme sharpness of the confrontation:
- Stalin's claims to revise the borders in Europe and Asia and the regime of the Black Sea straits, change the regime of administration of the former Italian colonies in Africa;
- W. Churchill's speech in Fulton in March 1946 with a call to protect the Western world by all possible means from "the spread of the influence of the USSR";
- Truman Doctrine (February 1947). Measures to "save Europe from Soviet expansion" (including the creation of a network of military bases near Soviet borders). The main doctrines are the doctrines of "containment" and "rejection" of communism;
- the creation by the Soviet Union (based on local communist parties and Soviet military bases) of a pro-Soviet bloc of Eastern European countries, the reproduction of the Soviet model of development in these countries;
- "Iron Curtain", Stalin's dictate in the domestic and foreign policy of the countries of the socialist camp, the policy of purges, repressions, executions .
1953 - 1962 During this period of the Cold War, the world was on the brink of nuclear conflict. Despite some improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States during Khrushchev's "thaw", it was at this stage that the anti-communist uprising in Hungary, the events in the GDR and, earlier, in Poland, as well as the Suez crisis took place.
International tension increased after the development and successful testing of the USSR in 1957 of an intercontinental ballistic missile. But, the threat of nuclear war receded, as the Soviet Union now had the opportunity to retaliate against US cities.
This period of relations between the superpowers ended with the Berlin and Caribbean crises of 1961 and 1962, respectively. It was possible to resolve the Caribbean crisis only during personal negotiations between the heads of state Khrushchev and Kennedy. Also, as a result of the negotiations, a number of agreements on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons were signed.
1962 - 1979 The period was marked by an arms race that undermined the economies of rival countries. The development and production of new types of weapons required incredible resources. Despite the presence of tension in relations between the USSR and the USA, agreements on the limitation of strategic weapons are signed. A joint space program "Soyuz-Apollo" is being developed.
However, by the beginning of the 80s, the USSR began to lose in the arms race. There is a détente in international tension:
- treaties between the FRG and the USSR, Poland, the GDR, Czechoslovakia;
- the West Berlin agreement, Soviet-American arms limitation treaties (ABM and SALT);
- 1975 Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (attempts at peaceful coexistence of the two systems, its complexity and contradictions);
- military-political parity between the USSR and the USA.
1979 - 1987 Relations between the USSR and the USA are again aggravated after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In 1983 the United States deployed ballistic missiles at bases in Italy, Denmark, England, the FRG, and Belgium. A missile defense system is being developed. The USSR reacts to the actions of the West by withdrawing from the Geneva talks. During this period, the missile attack warning system is in constant combat readiness.
- the end of detente, a new aggravation of the international confrontation between the two systems;
- deterioration of Soviet-American relations, a new round of the arms race, the American SDI program;
- the growth of US interference in the politics of the countries of the Middle East and Latin America;
- entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan; "Brezhnev's doctrine" - limiting the sovereignty of the countries of the socialist camp, increasing friction within it;
- attempts to continue the policy of the "cold war" in the conditions of the crisis of the world socialist system
The end of the Cold War was caused by the weakness of the Soviet economy, its inability to support the arms race any longer, as well as the pro-Soviet communist regimes.
Anti-war speeches in various parts of the world also played a certain role. The results of the Cold War turned out to be depressing for the USSR. The reunification of Germany in 1990 became a symbol of the West's victory.
As a result, after the USSR was defeated in the Cold War, a unipolar model of the world was formed with the US as the dominant superpower. However, there are other consequences of the Cold War.
This is the rapid development of science and technology, primarily military. So, the Internet was originally created as a communication system for the American army.
Berlin Crisis
After the war, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: the USSR, the USA, France, and England. Soon the USA, France and England united their zones into one (Trizonia).
In 1948 they began to rebuild the German economy. To stabilize the currency, a monetary reform was carried out. In response, the USSR closed the border with the Western zones of occupation, including West Berlin.
The blockade of Berlin is the first open confrontation between the USSR and its former allies. Starting on June 24, 1948, it lasted 324 days. During this time, Allied aviation took over the supply of the Allied troops in Berlin and the two million population of West Berlin.
Soviet troops did not interfere with the flights of aircraft over East Berlin.
In April 1948, Secretary Marshall decided to assist Western Europe in post-war reconstruction, thus making Europe his eternal debtor. The goal of the Marshall Plan was to strengthen capitalism in Europe.
In 1949, the NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created, ostensibly against possible German aggression. And actually against the USSR. NATO includes 12 European states.
NATO was originally created for three interrelated purposes - to keep the USSR outside of Europe, the United States - inside Europe, and Germany - under Europe, i.e. suppress it and keep Germany from rising in the political sense. At the moment, the task of expelling the USSR, and then Russia, from Europe is completely solved.
The answer of the USSR was the creation in 1949 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance - CMEA countries of Eastern Europe. And in 1955 the creation of a military Warsaw Pact organizations which includes nine countries. Europe was divided into two camps
In the Arab-Israeli conflict, the countries that opposed the Cold War took different sides. So, if in the FRG the victory of the Jews was welcomed, then in the GDR, on the contrary, they sympathized with the Arabs, who were subjected to "impudent imperialist provocation."
During the Cold War, neither the USSR nor the United States managed to win over the Middle Eastern countries to their side. The leaders of the Middle Eastern states were more preoccupied with their own internal and regional problems and used the antagonism between the USSR and the USA to their own advantage.
The Soviet Union played an important role in supplying weapons to Israel's main adversaries - Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. This, in turn, gave an incentive to the United States and other Western countries to support Israel in their desire to oust the USSR from the world and Middle Eastern arms market.
As a result of this competition, the rival nations of the Middle East were supplied with the most modern weapons in abundance. The natural consequence of such a policy was the transformation of the Middle East into one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Main events of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the second half of the 20th century
1956- a combined contingent of British, French and Israeli troops occupied the Sinai Peninsula, but under pressure from the USSR and the USA, the troops were withdrawn from the occupied territories.
1967- large-scale offensive of Israel. The result of the war, which lasted six days, was the annexation by Israel of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza, the Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the establishment of control over Jerusalem.
1973- Egyptian invasion of the Sinai Peninsula; The Syrian army occupied the Golan Heights. During the three-week war, Israel managed to stop the advance of the Arab troops and go on the offensive.
1978- the signing of the Camp David Accords, which became the basis for the conclusion of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979.
War between North Korea supported by China and South Korea supported by the United Nations and the United States. North Korean troops launched their invasion on April 25, 1950. The UN Security Council, in the absence of a representative of the USSR, decided to start military operations against North Korea-DPRK.
When US troops arrived in September 1950, most South Korea was occupied by North Korean troops. The latter retreated to the Chinese border. To which China responded with its offensive.
In October 1950, the front stabilized on the former demarcation line. Armistice negotiations began in 1951. And the war ended in 1953.
This military conflict has not been extinguished to this day.
On January 1, 1959, after a long civil war, guerrillas led by Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba. The US is very worried about having a communist state at its side.
In 1961, American missiles with nuclear warheads were deployed in Turkey - in close proximity to the borders of the USSR. In the event of a nuclear conflict, these missiles "reached" including Moscow. According to John F. Kennedy, they were not much more dangerous than submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
However, intermediate-range missiles and intercontinental missiles differ in their approach time. And besides, installations in Turkey were much easier to instantly put on alert.
Khrushchev considered American missiles on the Black Sea coast a threat. Therefore, a retaliatory step was taken - the secret movement and installation of nuclear forces in friendly Cuba, which led to the Caribbean crisis of 1962.
Operation Anadyr began in July 1962. On an island located 11,000 km from the USSR and 150 km from the USA through Atlantic Ocean, in the conditions of a naval blockade, 50 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were secretly delivered by ships of the civilian fleet.
Artillery, tanks, cars, planes and helicopters, ammunition, building materials. And medium-range missiles. Immediately rockets and other military equipment preparing for combat duty. At night, secretly, in a humid tropical climate, under the threat of American bombing.
The crisis began on October 14, 1962, when a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force, during one of the regular overflights of Cuba, discovered Soviet R-12 missiles in the vicinity of the village of San Cristobal. A total of 42 missiles were deployed.
On October 22, Kennedy addressed the people, announcing the presence of "Soviet offensive weapons" in Cuba, which caused immediate panic in the United States. A "quarantine" (blockade) of Cuba was introduced.
Conflict resolution.
Having learned about the presence of Soviet nuclear forces in Cuba, the US leadership decided to establish a naval blockade around Cuba. Soviet missiles did not formally violate international law, while the imposition of a blockade was considered a direct declaration of war.
Therefore, the blockade was called "quarantine" and the sea communication was cut off not entirely, but only in terms of weapons. Diplomatic negotiations, during which the whole world was in suspense, lasted a week. the USSR withdraws its forces from Cuba; The US removes missiles from Turkey and abandons attempts to invade Cuba.
Results and consequences of the Caribbean crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost caused the Third World War, demonstrated the danger of nuclear weapons and the inadmissibility of using them in diplomatic negotiations. In 1962, the US and the USSR agreed to stop nuclear testing in the air, under water and in space, and the Cold War began to decline. Also, it was after the Cuban Missile Crisis that a direct telephone connection was created between Washington and Moscow - so that the leaders of the two states no longer had to rely on letters, radio and telegraph to discuss important and urgent problems.
The Afghan war lasted from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989, that is, 2238 days For both military regions, this was the largest deployment of troops in the last half century. Only on December 24 was it announced that the Soviet leadership had decided to send troops to Afghanistan .... It was determined and exact time border crossing - 15.00 December 25, 1979.
On December 25, 1979 at 15.00, military transport aircraft began to land at the airfields in Kabul Bagram with a three-minute interval, delivering the first Soviet military units to Afghanistan.
7,700 paratroopers and 894 units of military equipment were delivered to Kabul and Bagram. Zinc coffins began to arrive in the Union, in the Motherland. For relatives, it was like a bolt from the blue. 1979 - 86 dead, 1981 - 1200 dead, 1982 - 1900 dead, 1984 - 2343 dead ...
1979 86 people
1980 1484 people
1981 1298 people
1982 1948 people
1983 1448 people
1984 2343 people
1985 1868 people
1986 1333 people
1987 1215 people
1988 758 people
1989 53 people
Of these, five generals
In total, 620 thousand Soviet military personnel and 21 thousand civilian personnel passed through the crucible of the Afghan war. Of these, 14,533 were killed and 417 were missing. Approximately 53,000 were injured. 6759-disabled.
Over 32,000 Belarusians participated in the Afghan war. Of these, 772 people did not return from the war and died during the fighting. 774 returned disabled.
The New World Order (according to the United States) is a political order that :
- based on basic American values (democracy, capitalism, liberalism, etc.) that became widespread in the world in the second half of the 20th century;
- focused on maintaining peace throughout the world, preventing or quickly resolving international conflicts, preventing humanitarian disasters;
- assumes the unconditional global political leadership of the United States;
- allows the use of force not only against real, but also "alleged" aggressors and violations of laws;
- focuses on actions “desirable”, and therefore not necessarily under the auspices of the UN;
- voluntarily, or not very voluntarily, accepted by most other countries;
- the establishment of the first world system of government and control of each individual and society, the management of national values, education, finance, commerce by the United States.
Today is extremely aggressive. foreign policy largely aimed at maintaining the current financial system which hostage is the whole world. The impossibility of carrying out subsequent military operations against objectionable regimes will put an end to US dominance, since this speculative system does not bring anything good to the world. The Cold War is back in world politics.
The current position of the United States is maintained by the incessant issuance of the dollar, which is printed in ever greater volumes and has no real real backing. The US government does not print the dollar directly, but through the private Federal Reserve System. In fact, both the Federal Reserve and the government are equally controlled by the same oligarchic financial elites.
- Russia should not
meddle in politics
other countries and, in general, pry into other people's affairs -
undemocratic!!!
Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Egypt and others…. they don't count!
We can do it!!!
It is not the first time that the rulers of the United States are faced with a choice: either chaos and anarchy in America, or their loss of power and wealth, or an “anti-crisis war”.
This was the case in the 1930s, and the United States was able to avoid economic collapse and civil war at home by skillfully playing the game of World War II.
So it was in the early 1980s, when the United States avoided a disastrous systemic crisis by launching a skillful war against the USSR.
Why not expect something similar in the course of the current Mega Crisis, which again threatens the American rulers? Will the US make a similar attempt?
Why not allow a "war to save", an "anti-crisis war" in the 21st century?
“Having shaken the ideological foundations of the USSR, we managed to bloodlessly withdraw from the war for world domination the state that is the main competitor to America.” Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States
1993-2001
“We adopted a tough statement that demonstrates that NATO, having won the Cold War and achieved the collapse of the USSR, will not allow new lines to be drawn across Europe between countries that were lucky enough to join Euro-Atlantic structures and other states striving for democracy .... We will not allow Russia to build such a line through these states.” Condoleezza Rice
66th US Secretary of State 2005-2009
“Our victory in the Cold War was made possible only by the willingness of millions of Americans to military uniform repel the threat emanating from behind the "Iron Curtain"
Hillary Clinton
67th US Secretary of State 2010-2014
"The world has avoided a nuclear catastrophe, and we have created the conditions for winning the Cold War without firing a shot at the USSR."
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States
2009-2017
An analysis of history shows that the need to ensure security is one of the main motives for the activities of people and communities.
The desire for security led to the unification of our ancestors in communities, the formation of law enforcement agencies (army, police and numerous security services, including from natural Disasters), predetermined the formation of many international organizations and, ultimately, led to the creation of the UN, designed to ensure the security of the existence of the entire population.
It is worth noting that Russia was never the first to show aggression, but only rebuffed attempts by external interference and any destructive influence.
In the second half of the 20th century, a confrontation between the two strongest powers of its time, the USA and the USSR, unfolded on the world political arena. In the years 1960-80, it reached its climax, and received the definition of "cold war". The struggle for influence in all spheres, spy wars, an arms race, the expansion of "their" regimes are the main signs of the relationship between the two superpowers.
Background of the Cold War
After the end of World War II, the two countries that were the most powerful politically and economically were the United States and the Soviet Union. Each of them had a great influence in the world, and sought to strengthen their leadership positions in every possible way.
In the eyes of the world community, the USSR was losing its familiar image of the enemy. Many European countries, devastated after the war, began to show increased interest in the experience of rapid industrialization in the USSR. Socialism began to attract millions of people as a means of overcoming the devastation.
In addition, the influence of the USSR significantly expanded to the countries of Asia and Eastern Europe, where the communist parties came to power.
Concerned about this rapid rise in the popularity of the Soviets, the Western world began to take decisive action. In 1946, in the American city of Fulton, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech in which he accused the entire world of the Soviet Union of aggressive expansion and called on the entire Anglo-Saxon world to give it a decisive rebuff.
Rice. 1. Churchill's speech at Fulton.
The Truman Doctrine, with which he spoke in 1947, further worsened relations between the USSR and its former allies.
This position meant:
- Providing economic assistance to European powers.
- Formation of a military-political bloc led by the United States.
- Placement of US military bases along the border with the Soviet Union.
- Support for opposition forces in Eastern European countries..
- Use of nuclear weapons.
Churchill's Fulton speech and the Truman Doctrine were perceived by the USSR government as a threat and a kind of declaration of war.
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The main stages of the Cold War
1946-1991 the beginning and end of the Cold War. During this period, conflicts between the US and the USSR either faded or flared up with renewed vigor.
The confrontation between countries was not conducted openly, but with the help of political, ideological and economic levers of influence. Despite the fact that the confrontation between the two powers did not turn into a "hot" war, they nevertheless took part on opposite sides of the barricades in local military conflicts.
- Caribbean Crisis (1962). During the Cuban Revolution in 1959, power in the state was seized by pro-Soviet forces led by Fidel Castro. Fearing a manifestation of aggression from a new neighbor, US President Kennedy deployed nuclear missiles in Turkey, on the border with the USSR. In response to these actions, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered the deployment of missiles on Cuban soil. could start at any moment nuclear war, however, as a result of the agreement, weapons were withdrawn from the border regions of both sides.
Rice. 2. Caribbean crisis.
Realizing how dangerous the manipulation of nuclear weapons is, in 1963 the USSR, the USA and Great Britain signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Tests in the Atmosphere, in Space and Under Water. Subsequently, a new Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was also signed.
- Berlin Crisis (1961). At the end of World War II, Berlin was divided into two parts: the eastern part belonged to the USSR, the western was controlled by the United States. The confrontation between the two countries grew more and more, and the threat of the Third World War became more and more tangible. On August 13, 1961, the so-called "Berlin Wall" was erected, dividing the city into two parts. This date can be called the apogee and the beginning of the decline of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA.
Rice. 3. Berlin Wall.
- Vietnam War (1965). The United States launched a war in Vietnam, divided into two camps: North Vietnam supported socialism, and South Vietnam supported capitalism. The USSR secretly participated in the military conflict, supporting the northerners in every possible way. However, this war caused an unprecedented resonance in society, in particular in America, and after numerous protests and demonstrations it was stopped.
Consequences of the Cold War
Relations between the USSR and the USA continued to be ambiguous, and between the countries more than once broke out conflict situations. However, in the second half of the 1980s, when Gorbachev was in power in the USSR and Reagan ruled the United States, the Cold War gradually came to an end. Its final completion took place in 1991, along with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The period of the Cold War was very acute not only for the USSR and the USA. The threat of the Third World War with the use of nuclear weapons, the split of the world into two opposing camps, the arms race, rivalry in all spheres of life kept all of humanity in suspense for several decades.
What have we learned?
When studying the Cold War topic, we got acquainted with the concept of the Cold War, found out which countries were in confrontation with each other, what events became the reasons for its development. We also examined the main signs and stages of development, learned briefly about the Cold War, found out when it ended and what impact it had on the world community.
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LECTURE #38
International relations and regional conflicts
Military-political blocs.
The desire of Western countries and the USSR to strengthen their positions on the world stage led to the creation of military-political blocs. The largest number of them arose on the initiative and under the leadership of the United States: NATO (1949), AN-SUS (Australia, New Zealand, USA, 1951), SEATO (USA, UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, 1954), Baghdad Pact (UK, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, 1955; after exit of Iraq - CENTO).
In 1955, the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD) was formed. It included the USSR, Albania (withdrew in 1968), Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.
The main obligations of the participants in the blocs consisted in mutual assistance to each other in the event of an attack on one of the allied states.
Practical activities within NATO, and above all in military-technical cooperation, as well as in the creation of military bases by the US and the USSR and the deployment of their troops on the territory of the allied states on the line of confrontation between the blocs. Particularly significant forces of the parties were concentrated in the FRG and the GDR. A large number of atomic weapons were also placed here.
Cold War periods and international crises.
There are two periods in the Cold War. For the period 1946 - 1963. characterized by growing tensions between the two great powers, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the period of the creation of military-political blocs and conflicts in the zones of contact between the two socio-economic systems. Significant events were the Korean War of 1950 - 1953, the French war in Vietnam 1946 - 1954, the suppression of the uprising in Hungary in 1956 by the USSR, the Suez crisis of 1956, the Berlin crises of 1948 -1949, 1953 and 1961, the Caribbean crisis 1962 A number of them almost caused a new world war.
The second period of the Cold War began in 1963. It is characterized by the transfer of the center of gravity of international conflicts to the Third World, to the periphery of world politics. At the same time, relations between the US and the USSR were transformed from confrontation to detente, to negotiations and agreements, in particular, on the reduction of nuclear and conventional weapons and on the peaceful settlement of international disputes. The major conflicts were the US war in Vietnam and the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Caribbean crisis.
In the spring of 1962, the leaders of the USSR and Cuba decided to secretly place medium-range nuclear missiles on this island. The USSR hoped to make the United States as vulnerable to a nuclear strike as the Soviet Union became after the deployment of American missiles in Turkey. Receiving information about the deployment of Soviet missiles on the "Red Island" caused a panic in the United States. The confrontation reached its peak on October 27 - 28, 1962. The world was on the brink of war, but prudence prevailed: the USSR removed nuclear missiles from the island in response to US President John F. Kennedy's promises not to invade Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey.
War in Vietnam.
The United States provided assistance to South Vietnam, but the regime established there was in danger of collapse. A guerrilla movement, supported by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV, North Vietnam), China and the USSR, unfolded on the territory of South Vietnam. In 1964 the United States, using its own provocation as a pretext, launched a massive bombardment of North Vietnam, and in 1965 landed troops in South Vietnam.
Soon these troops were drawn into fierce fighting with the partisans. The United States used the tactics of "scorched earth", carried out massacres of civilians, but the resistance movement expanded. The Americans and their local henchmen suffered more and more losses. American troops were equally unsuccessful in Laos and Cambodia. Protests against the war around the world, including in the United States itself, along with military failures, forced the Americans to enter into peace negotiations. In 1973, American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. In 1975, the partisans took its capital - the city of Saigon. A new state appeared - the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV).
War in Afghanistan.
In April 1978, a military coup took place in Afghanistan, carried out by adherents of leftist views. The new leadership of the country concluded an agreement with the Soviet Union and repeatedly asked him for military assistance. The USSR supplied Afghanistan with weapons and military equipment. The civil war between supporters and opponents of the new regime in Afghanistan flared up more and more. In December 1979, the USSR decided to send a limited contingent of troops into the country. The presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan was regarded by the Western powers as aggression, although the USSR acted within the framework of an agreement with the country's leadership and sent troops at its request. In fact, the Soviet troops were drawn into the civil war in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was carried out in February 1989.
Middle East conflict.
International Jewish (Zionist) organizations chose the territory of Palestine as a center for the Jews of the whole world at the beginning of the 20th century. In November 1947, the UN decided to create two states on the territory of Palestine: Arab and Jewish. Jerusalem stood out as an independent unit. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed, and on May 15, the Arab Legion, which was in Jordan, opposed the Israelis. The first Arab-Israeli war began. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iraq brought troops into Palestine. The war ended in 1949. Israel occupied more than half of the territory intended for the Arab state and the western part of Jerusalem. Jordan received its eastern part and the western bank of the Jordan River, Egypt got the Gaza Strip. Total number Arab refugees exceeded 900 thousand people.
Since then, the confrontation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine has remained one of the most acute problems. Zionists called on Jews from all over the world to move to Israel, to their "historical homeland." Jewish settlements were created to accommodate them in the Arab territories. Influential forces in Israel dream of creating a "Greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates (this idea is symbolically reflected in the national flag of Israel). The United States and others became Israel's ally Western countries, the USSR supported the Arabs.
In 1956, the nationalization of the Suez Canal announced by President Nasser hit the interests of Great Britain and France (Nasser supported the anti-French uprising in Algeria). The tripartite Anglo-French-Israeli aggression against Egypt began. On October 29, 1956, the Israeli army crossed the Egyptian border, and the British and French landed in the canal zone. The forces were unequal, an attack on Cairo was being prepared. Only after the threat of the USSR to use force against the aggressors in November 1956, hostilities were stopped, and the troops of the interventionists left Egypt.
On June 5, 1967, Israel launched military operations against the Arab states in response to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Yasser Arafat, created in 1964 to fight for the formation of an Arab state in Palestine and the liquidation of Israel. Israeli troops quickly moved deep into Egypt, Syria, Jordan. Protests against aggression that swept the whole world, and the efforts of the USSR forced Israel to stop hostilities already on June 10. During the six-day war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the western bank of the Jordan River, the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights in Syrian territory.
In 1973 a new war began. Arab troops acted more successfully, Egypt managed to liberate part of the Sinai Peninsula. In 1970 and 1982-1991 Israeli troops invaded Lebanese territory to fight the Palestinian refugees who were there. Part of Lebanese territory came under Israeli control. Only at the beginning of the XXI century. Israeli troops left Lebanon, but provocations against this country continued.
All attempts by the UN and the leading world powers to achieve an end to the conflict were unsuccessful for a long time. Only in 1978-1979. Through the mediation of the United States, it was possible to sign a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel at Camp David. Israel withdrew troops from the Sinai Peninsula, but the Palestinian problem was not solved. Since 1987, an intifada began in the occupied territories of Palestine - an uprising of Palestinians. In 1988, the creation of the State of Palestine was announced. An attempt to resolve the conflict was an agreement between the leaders of Israel and the PLO in the mid-1990s. on the creation of a Palestinian autonomy on part of the occupied territories. However, the Palestinian Authority was completely dependent on Israel, and Jewish settlements remained on its territory.
The situation escalated at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, when the second intifada began. Israel was forced to withdraw its troops and migrants from the Gaza Strip. But mutual shelling of the territory of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, terrorist acts continued. In the summer of 2006, there was a war between Israel and the Lebanese organization Hezbollah. In late 2008 - early 2009, Israeli troops attacked the Gaza Strip, where the radical Hamas movement was in power. The hostilities have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians.
Discharge.
Since the mid 50s. The USSR repeatedly came up with initiatives for general and complete disarmament. The most important steps towards easing the international situation were taken in the 1970s. There was a growing understanding in the USA and the USSR that a further arms race was becoming pointless, that military spending was undermining the economy. The improvement in relations between the USSR and the West was called détente.
An essential milestone on the path of détente was the normalization of relations between the USSR and the FRG. An important point of the agreement between them was the recognition of the western borders of Poland and the border between the GDR and the FRG (1970). During a visit to the USSR in May 1972 by US President R. Nixon, agreements were signed on the limitation of anti-missile defense systems (ABM) and the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Arms (SALT-1). The new Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Arms (SALT-2) was signed in 1979. The treaties provided for the mutual reduction of the number of ballistic missiles.
On July 30 - August 1, 1975, the final stage of the Conference on Security and Cooperation of the Heads of 33 European countries, the USA and Canada took place in Helsinki. Its result was the Final Act, which fixed the principles of the inviolability of borders in Europe, respect for the independence and sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, the renunciation of the use of force and the threat of its use.
At the end of the 70s. reduced tension in Asia. The SEATO and CENTO blocs ceased to exist. However, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, conflicts in other parts of the world in the early 80s. again led to an intensification of the arms race and increased tension.
International relations at the endXX- earlyXXIin.
Perestroika, which began in the USSR in 1985, very soon began to have a significant impact on international relations.
The head of the Soviet Union put forward the idea of a new political thinking in international relations. He stated that the main problem is the survival of mankind and all foreign policy activity should be subordinated to its solution. decisive role played meetings and negotiations at the highest level between the presidents of the United States: first R. Reagan, and then George W. Bush Sr. They led to the signing of bilateral treaties on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles (1987) and on the limitation and reduction of strategic offensive arms (START-1) in 1991.
On normalization international relations the completion of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan also had a positive effect.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia continued the policy of friendly relations with the United States and other leading Western states. A number of important treaties were concluded on further disarmament and cooperation (for example, the treaties on START-2 and START-3). The threat of a new war with the use of weapons of mass destruction has sharply decreased. At the same time, the Soviet-American agreements of the times of perestroika and later Russian-American agreements contained many unilateral concessions on the part of the USSR and Russia.
Since the 90s There is only one superpower left in the world - the United States. Instead of the bipolar world of the Cold War era, a unipolar world emerged. The United States has taken a course to build up its weapons, including the latest. In 2001, the United States withdrew from the 1972 ABM Treaty, and in 2007 announced the deployment of missile defense systems, actually directed against Russia, in the Czech Republic and Poland.
In 2008, the pro-American regime established in Georgia carried out a large-scale attack on South Ossetia, one of the unrecognized state entities on the territory of the former USSR. The aggression was repelled by Russian troops and local militias. Thereafter Russian Federation recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Serious changes took place at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. in Europe. In 1991, the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs were liquidated. In September 1990, representatives of the GDR, the FRG, Great Britain, the USSR, the USA and France signed an agreement to settle the German issue and unify Germany. The USSR withdrew its troops from Germany and agreed to the entry of the united German state into NATO. In 1999, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO, in 2004 - Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, in 2009 - Albania and Croatia. In 2009, France returned to the NATO military organization.
NATO's goal is to ensure the collective security of its members in the Euro-Atlantic region. An attack on one of the NATO countries is interpreted as an attack on the alliance as a whole. NATO is open to new members who are able to develop the principles of the treaty and contribute to collective security. Among the activities of NATO: the development international cooperation and the prevention of conflict between its members and partner members, the protection of the values of democracy, individual liberty, the free enterprise economy and the rule of law.
The highest political body of NATO is the North Atlantic Council (NATO Council), which consists of representatives of all member states and holds its meetings under the chairmanship of the NATO Secretary General. The North Atlantic Council may organize meetings at the level of foreign ministers and heads of state and government. Council decisions are taken unanimously. Between sessions, the functions of the NATO Council are performed by the Permanent Council of NATO, which includes representatives of all member countries of the bloc in the rank of ambassadors.
NATO's highest military-political body is the Defense Planning Committee, which meets twice a year at its sessions at the level of defense ministers. In the period between sessions, the functions of the Military Planning Committee are carried out by the Standing Committee of Military Planning, which includes representatives of all countries participating in the bloc in the rank of ambassadors.
NATO's highest military body is the Military Committee, consisting of the chiefs of the general staff of NATO member countries. The Military Committee has under its command the command of two zones: Europe and the Atlantic. The main command in Europe is headed by the supreme commander (always an American general).
Within the framework of NATO there are a number of programs, among them the most important - "Partnership for Peace". The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) includes 46 countries, including Ukraine and Russia.
In the face of reduced threat global war local conflicts intensified in Europe and the post-Soviet space. There were armed conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Transnistria, Tajikistan, Georgia, in the North Caucasus. Especially bloody were the events in the former Yugoslavia. The processes of formation of independent states in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia were accompanied by wars, mass ethnic cleansing, and refugee flows. Since 1993, NATO has actively intervened in the affairs of these states on the side of the anti-Serb forces. In 1999, NATO, led by the United States, without UN sanction, committed open aggression against Yugoslavia, starting the bombing of this country.
Another hotbed of tension continues to exist in the Middle East. Iraq is a troubled region. Relations between India and Pakistan remain complicated. In Africa, interstate and civil wars periodically flare up, accompanied by mass extermination of the population.
Tensions persist in a number of regions of the former USSR. There are still unrecognized state formations here - the Pridnestrovian Republic, Nagorno-Karabakh.
Since 2001, the United States has proclaimed the fight against international terrorism as its main goal. In addition to Iraq, American troops invaded Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime was overthrown with the help of local forces. This led to a multiple increase in the production of drugs, which flooded into the countries of the former USSR and Europe.
In Afghanistan itself, fighting between the Taliban and the occupying army is intensifying. The US is threatening to use military force against North Korea, Iran, Syria and other countries. All this became possible due to the formation of a unipolar world dominated by the United States. However, it is clear that even such a powerful state as the United States, especially in the context of the collapse of the economy due to the crisis that began in 2008, will not be able to solve global world problems.
Other constantly growing centers of power - the European Union, China, India - are dissatisfied with this situation. They, like Russia, are in favor of creating a multipolar world and expanding the role of the UN.
QUESTIONS AND TASKS
1. What were the reasons for the formation of military-political blocs? What were their tasks?
2. What are the causes of crises in the 1940s and 1950s? What were their consequences?
3. What are the causes and consequences of the major military conflicts of the 60-80s?
4. What is discharge? What are its reasons? What agreements have been reached?
5. How did the balance of power in the world change at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century?
6. Make a table showing the chronology of the major international conflicts that occurred in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries.
