Chapter 18.3 Foreign Policy Troubles United States History Ms. Girbal Wednesday, June 3, 2015

We are almost there… Wednesday, June 3- Sections 18.3 and 19.3 (LAST SECTIONS!!! YAY!!!) Thursday, June 4- Potluck Review for final Work on studyguides Monday, June 8- Review for final Tuesday, June 9- FINAL Studyguide due!

Objectives Compare the policies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter toward the Soviet Union. Discuss changing U.S. foreign policy in the developing world. Identify the successes and failures of Carter’s foreign policy in the Middle East.

Gerald Ford continued Nixon’s policies of détente with the Soviet Union after he took office in 1974. The United States continued disarmament talks with the Soviets that led to SALT II, limiting nuclear arms production. VIDEO (Nixon)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kraz6SQ60 VIDEO (Watergate)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYiE_D6G_eI Ford also endorsed the Helsinki Accords, a document that put major nations on record in support of human rights.

The U.S. sought to put the Vietnam War in the past. South Vietnam fell to the communists. Many of the boat people eventually found refuge in the United States and Canada.

Early in his presidency, Jimmy Carter continued Nixon’s and Ford’s policies toward the Soviet Union. In June 1979, Carter signed the SALT II arms control treaty despite opposition from many Americans who believed it jeopardized U.S. security. The U.S. Senate held heated debates about whether to vote for the treaty, which angered the Soviet Union. Additionally, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support its communist government. Carter withdrew SALT II from Congress and imposed sanctions, or penalties, on the Soviets.

Jimmy Carter changed the course of American foreign policy by declaring it would be guided by a concern for human rights. Carter’s beliefs about human rights changed the way that the U.S. dealt with countries in the developing world. The U.S. stopped sending money to countries that ignored their citizens’ rights, such as Nicaragua. Carter also decided to return the Panama Canal Zone to Panama by 1999. Although some Americans feared that this would weaken national security, the Canal Zone treaties were ratified in 1978 and Panama now has full control of the canal.

Carter helped to negotiate a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel known as the Camp David Accords. Egypt became the first Arab nation to officially recognize the nation of Israel.

In Iran, fundamentalist Islamic clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini seized power. Radical students took over the U.S. Embassy and held 66 Americans hostage. VIDEO (Argo)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w918Eh3fij0 President Carter failed to win all of the hostages’ release– evidence to some that his foreign policy was not tough enough. 9

The hostage crisis showed that the Soviet Union was no longer the only threat to America. Conflicts in the Middle East threatened to become the greatest foreign policy challenge for the United States.

Chapter 19.3 The End of the Cold War United States History Ms. Girbal Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Objectives Analyze the ways that Ronald Reagan challenged communism and the Soviet Union. Explain why communism collapsed in Europe and in the Soviet Union. Describe other foreign policy challenges that faced the United States in the 1980s.

President Reagan believed that communism could be weakened by building up the U.S. military (largest peacetime military buildup in its history). The military build-up included the Strategic Defense Initiative. This led to a dramatic increase in defense spending. Some called this mission “Star Wars” as they saw it as unrealistic.

The Reagan administration supported many anticommunist groups around the world. Afghanistan El Salvador Grenada Contras in Nicaragua Reagan called the Soviet Union an “evil empire” during his first term in office.

Mikhail Gorbachev became the President of the Soviet Union in 1985. His twin policies of glasnost and perestroika moved the Soviet Union away from socialism and marked the beginning of a new era in U.S.–Soviet relations. In 1989, several Eastern European nations ousted their communist regimes. VIDEO (REAGAN)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZgR5KOIXs VIDEO- http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall The fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany symbolized the end of communism in Europe. 15

The Soviet Union broke apart in 1991. Newly elected President George H.W. Bush signed agreements with Gorbachev, and his successor President Boris Yeltsin. They pledged friendship and cooperation and reduction in the buildup of nuclear weapons. The Cold War, which had lasted more than 45 years, was finally over. 16

But the U.S. continued to confront trouble in the Middle East. In 1983, 241 American Marines were killed in Lebanon. The U.S. clashed with Libya throughout the 1980s.

But Congress banned sending funds to the Contras in 1983. The Iran-Contra affair damaged Reagan’s reputation during his second term. In 1985, the U.S. sold weapons to Iran. In return, Iran pressured Lebanese terror groups to release some American hostages. The U.S used the money from gun sales to secretly fund the Contras in Nicaragua. But Congress banned sending funds to the Contras in 1983. Several leading Reagan officials were convicted in this scandal, but Reagan remained popular when he left office.