Important Events in World History Post WWII ****THE MIDDLE EAST****

The Russians in Afghanistan Event #1

The Soviets in Afghanistan  USSR invades Afghanistan To install a pro-Soviet leader Would become the USSR’s “Vietnam” – led the downfall of the USSR Unpopular war, drains military resources, very expensive

War in Afghanistan  Results of the war Over 14,000 Soviet troops dead Afghan losses are well over 100,000 Afghan civil war continued  Until Taliban took control in 1996 Increased tension with the US  Boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games

The Arab Israeli Conflict Event #2

The Arab Israeli Conflict  After WWII Israel was established & provided shelter to Holocaust survivors  The area of Palestine was divided into an Arab State & a Jewish State in 1947  War soon broke out between Israel & it’s Arab neighbors

The Six-day War  1967  Israel bombs Egypt and captures Arab areas including Jerusalem  This event shapes the middle east today  1 million Palestinians come under Israeli control  Yasir Arafat becomes new leader of PLO

OPEC  Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  1960  Goal is to control oil prices  During Arab Israeli War, Arab states refused to sell oil to countries supporting Israel including the US  This caused a gas crisis in the US but was resolved in 1978 by US President Jimmy Carter

War in the Middle East Event #3

Iran’s Islamic Revolution  Post WWII Iran was the biggest ally of US & UK in middle east  Many Iranian Muslims disliked their Shah  Iranian turned to their highest religious leader the Ayatollah Khomeini  Khomeini assumed power after protest and the Shah fled

Khomeini & the USA  Khomeini installed a strict Muslim govt.  Many Iranians hated the US b/c we supported the Shah  In 1979 student militants took 52 Americans hostage at the US embassy in Tehran

The Persian Gulf War  In the 1980s Iraq and Iran fought a long war  Iraq was led by Saddam Hussein  After the war Iraq needed money and seized the oil fields of Kuwait in 1990  In 1991 a US led coalition forced the Iraqi army from Kuwait

The Ongoing Mideast Crisis  Palestinians grew tired of being under Israeli rule & an uprising occurred  Palestinian Authority was given control of some areas in the early 90s  Despite these peace efforts conflict resumed in the late 1990s  In 2006 Hamas the Palestinian resistance party was elected to power escalating tensions  War broke out b/w Israel and Lebanon who was led by a radical Islamic group, Hezbollah  War was July – August 2006

Israeli Bombings of Lebanon 2006

The War on Terror  Terrorism – is the use of violence against civilians to reach a political goal  Iraq, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Afghanistan and North Korea have all aided terrorist groups  9/11 attacks on NYC led by al-Qaeda & Osama Bin Laden

Who is Osama Bin Laden??  Al-Qaeda grew out of the was between the Afghans and the Russians  Bin Laden was an Afghan fighter in that war  He used his families riches to turn al-Qaeda into a powerful terrorist network  Attacked US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and a Naval vessel in Yemen in 2000  Sponsored and planned the 9/11 attacks  Currently MIA

The War in Iraq  2002 George W. Bush sought to remove Saddam Hussein from power  US claimed Iraq had WMDs  UN doubted these claims and the US attacked Iraq with very little world support  In 2003 the US invaded Iraq and quickly defeated the army  The US goal of rebuilding Iraq, installing a new government and training Iraqi police and military has been met with much resistance  The “insurgents” are Hussein supporters, terrorists and Islamic militants