1. Chapter 17-4 Cold War Around the World
I) Confrontations over Developing Nations
II) Postwar Face-off in Latin America
III) Confrontations in the Middle East

2. I) Confrontations over Developing Nations
After World War II the world was divided into three parts; The first Word was the US and its allies, the Second World was the Soviet Union and its allies, and the Third World consisted of developing nations, often newly independent who were not aligned with either superpower.
Because these 3rd World Countries in Latin America, Africa or Asia experienced terrible poverty and political instability, and they desperately need assistance.
They could choose to get help from Soviet style communism or US style free market democracy.

3. I) Confrontations over Developing Nations
Both superpowers competed for influence in the 3rd World, often supporting wars of revolution.
The US and Soviet spy agencies (CIA and KGB) enjaged in a variety of secret (covert) activities, ranging from spying to assassination attempts.
Not all 3rd World nations wished to play such a role, and vowed to remain neutral. They met to form a group known as non-aligned nations

4. II) Postwar Face-off in Latin America
The United States had long dominated Latin America politics, often backing dictators who oppressed their people to protect American business interests.
The large gap between the rich and the poor led to revolutionary movements which the Soviet union was more than eager to support.
A young lawyer named Fidel Castro led a successful revolution in Cuba, and he turned to the Soviet Union for economic and military aid.
President Kennedy decided to send CIA trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba, but Castro’s forces defeated them at the Bay of Pigs.

5. II) Postwar Face-off in Latin America
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev responded by secretly building 42 missile sites in Cuba.
Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba, and people began to fear the incident (Cuban Missile Crisis) would lead to World War III and a nuclear disaster.
Fortunately the USSR agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the US pledge not to invade Cuba.
In Nicaragua the communists backed Sandinistas under their leader Daniel Ortega fought the United States backed Contras (counterrevoluctionarios)

6. III) Confrontations in the Middle East
With its rich supplies of oil, the Middle east lured both the United States and Soviet Union
Wealth from the oil industry fueled a growing conflict between traditional Islamic values and modern Western materialism.
Iranian leader Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi created much resentment by embracing the West.
Iran's conservative Muslim leaders, known as ayatollahs, bitterly opposed him, and Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini returned from exile to lead a revolt against the US backed Shah.
The Shah was forced to flee, and Khomeini established an Islamic state that banned Western influence and reinstated traditional Muslim values

7. III) Confrontations in the Middle East
With its rich supplies of oil, the Middle east lured both the United States and Soviet Union
Wealth from the oil industry fueled a growing conflict between traditional Islamic values and modern Western materialism.
Iranian leader Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi created much resentment by embracing the West.
Iran's conservative Muslim leaders, known as ayatollahs, bitterly opposed him, and Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini returned from exile to lead a revolt against the US backed Shah.
The Shah was forced to flee, and Khomeini established an Islamic state that banned Western influence and reinstated traditional Muslim values

8. III) Confrontations in the Middle East
With its rich supplies of oil, the Middle east lured both the United States and Soviet Union
Wealth from the oil industry fueled a growing conflict between traditional Islamic values and modern Western materialism.
Iranian leader Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi created much resentment by embracing the West.
Iran's conservative Muslim leaders, known as ayatollahs, bitterly opposed him, and Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini returned from exile to lead a revolt against the US backed Shah.
The Shah was forced to flee, and Khomeini established an Islamic state that banned Western influence and reinstated traditional Muslim values

9. III) Confrontations in the Middle East
Hatred of America was at the heart of Khomenei’s policies and when the US admitted the Shah for medical treatment in 1979 a group of young Islamic revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 people hostage for 444 days.
Khomeini also encouraged other Muslim fundamentalists to overthrow their governments, and war broke out between the Iranians, who were Shi’a, and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, who was Sunni.
When a Muslim revolt threatened to topple Afghanistan's communist regime, the Soviets invaded in December of 1979.
Like the US earlier in Vietnam, despite far superior manpower and weapons, the USSR got mired in Afghanistan, as they failed to dislodge the US backed rebels (mujahideen) in the mountains.
After a 10 year occupation the Soviet regime acknowledged the war’s devastating cost and withdrew.