U.S. Power Post-Soviet Union
Overview
Statewide Dual Credit Modern World History: Unit 16, Lesson 6
A discussion of the United States' role in global conflicts after the Cold War, focusing on interventions in the Middle East and the Balkans, exploring the motivations and outcomes of these interventions, highlighting the complex and often protracted nature of these conflicts.
By the end of the Cold War, the United States remained by far the most diplomatically, economically and militarily powerful country in the world. Many Americans contemplated a future global world order in which the nations of the world, having learned from the mistakes of fascism and communism, would embrace free trade, democracy and a new world order dominated by the United States. They also looked forward to a “peace dividend,” the reduction of U.S. military forces, decreasing in military spending, and reinvestment in the civilian economy.
However, the 1990s and early 21st century would prove to be some of the most difficult and conflict-ridden in American history. In August 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) invaded the neighboring country of Kuwait, seizing its extensive oil fields. The United Nations condemned the invasion and authorized the use of force in ousting the Iraqis. U.S. President George
H.W. Bush cobbled together a coalition of 34 nations, including several Arab states, and announced plans to liberate Kuwait. After several weeks of air strikes on Iraq, UN forces entered Kuwait on February 16, 1991. In less than four days, Iraqi forces had been pushed back across the border. Believing that Hussein would soon be overthrown by his people, the Bush administration and coalition forces opted not to invade Iraq itself.
As coalition forces fought to liberate Kuwait, the ethnic minorities of Yugoslavia began clamoring for independence. Created by the victorious Entente Powers at the end of World War I to maintain order in the region and prevent the outbreak of another world war, Yugoslav officials had constantly struggled to keep the peace between the nation’s rival ethnic factions. In 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bosnia all declared their independence and were quickly extended diplomatic recognition by the European Union. Serbian forces quickly surrounded the city of Vukovar in Croatia. After a siege that lasted several months, Serbia gained control of the city. The following year Serbian forces laid siege to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over three years, more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians were killed in what constituted the longest siege in modern military history. As the war progressed, both sides used increasingly brutal tactics. For instance, in 1995 Bosnian Serbs executed over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the town of Srebrenica.
When news of the Srebrenica Massacre broke out, public outcry around the world prompted NATO to intervene in the conflict. Declaring a No-Fly Zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina, NATO provided logistical support to Bosnian forces and bombed Serb military positions. While the fighting continued, American, Canadian, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian representatives met in Dayton, Ohio under the leadership of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrook. On November 21, 1995, they signed the Dayton Accords which ended the conflict. Three years later Albanian rebels launched a war of independence in the Serbian province of Kosovo. When Serbia began to put down the uprising by force, NATO launched another bombing campaign in March 1999. After 78 days of bombing, Serbia agreed to withdraw its forces from Kosovo. The United Nations established a protectorate over the province, which continues to this day.
Any hopes for a long-term peace following the end of the Persian Gulf and Bosnian Wars ended on September 11, 2001, when 19 members of the Islamic militant group Al-Qaeda, acting on the orders of Osama Bin Laden, hijacked four American airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC. In response, U.S. President George W. Bush launched a “War on Terror.” Originally designed to root out and destroy Al-Qaeda cells, the conflict quickly expanded into two larger conflicts.
On October 7, 2001, the United States initiated Operation Enduring Freedom to topple the Taliban government of Afghanistan which had throughout the 1990s provided a haven for Al-Qaeda. Working with the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghani warlords, U.S. forces captured Mazar-i-Sharif on November 9, and Kabul four days later. In December, American and British troops scoured the Tora Bora mountains to capture Osama Bin Laden. Although the Al-Qaeda leader evaded capture, America and its allies solidified their control over Afghanistan. In December Hamid Karzai (b. 1957) created a new Afghani government that worked closely with American forces in defeating Taliban forces in eastern Afghanistan. On May 1, 2003, President Bush announced the end of hostilities in Afghanistan and promised to help rebuild the country.
However, while Karzai’s government could maintain control over large cities like Kabul, the Taliban continued to control large stretches of the countryside. Over the next 15 years, the United States would carry out military operations against Al-Queda and the Taliban throughout Afghanistan. Yet attempts to train Afghani soldiers provided mixed results. Bit by bit, the Taliban regained control of key provinces and cities. On April 21, 2021, newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden (b. 1942) announced the withdrawal of all American forces from Afghanistan. From May to August Taliban forces retook most of Afghanistan including Kabul. On August 17, 2021, the Taliban declared the creation of a new government. Although victorious, Taliban officials inherited a country suffering from sectarian violence, a devastated infrastructure and a chronic shortage of food, medicine and other crucial supplies.
Although victory in Afghanistan remained a key American priority, most of the nation’s military resources went to overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Following the defeat of Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, many American policy experts predicted that the Iraqi people would topple Hussein. However, throughout the 1990s Saddam Hussein ruthlessly crushed all internal opposition and solidified his hold over Iraqi society. In 2002, the Bush administration accused Iraq of developing nuclear and chemical weapons of mass destruction and planning to use them against the United States and its allies. American officials attempted to secure a resolution from the United Nations to invade Iraq. When the UN refused to do so, President Bush announced he would lead a “coalition of the willing” to overthrow Hussein. After building a coalition of over 40 countries, the Bush Administration launched an air and ground invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. With overwhelming military force, Allied troops captured Baghdad by April 9. President Bush appointed diplomat Paul Bremer (b. 1941) as head of an interim government. Although U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein in December, American officials and troops could do little to quell the outbreak of violence between Iraqi Sunni and Shia Muslims. Such infighting led to a massive humanitarian and refugee crisis. In 2007 the Bush administration committed an additional 20,000 American troops to stabilize the situation in Iraq.
The chronic instability of the Iraqi government and mounting U.S. casualties due to ambushes and suicide bombings caused many Americans to turn against the war effort. In 2008, Barack Obama had articulated his desire to end the war. By 2011, all remaining American troops were evacuated, leaving Iraq an intact but still deeply divided country.