A New Century and New Crisis

Modern Era 2001-Present

War on Terror

Bush Prior to 9-11

• In 2001, Bush got Congress to enact the largest tax cut in US history• Most of them were towards the wealthiest Americans on the assumption they

would invest money saved in economically productive activities

• Announced the US would not abide by the Kyoto Protocol of 1997• Sought to combat global warming and climate change

• Bush claimed that following the treaty would hurt the American economy• Angered much of the world as well as environmentalists at home

Patriotism Post 9-11

• Unlike other times in Americas past, there was a spontaneous outpouring of patriotism following 9-11 that was not created by the government or private organizations

• Public trust in the government rose dramatically

• Public servants such as police and firefighters became national heroes

• Speeches by the president used Freedom as a rallying cry• When asked why do terrorists attack the US?, the president responded”

Because we love freedom, that’s why. And they hate freedom”

War on Terrorism

• Otherwise known as the Bush Doctrine

• The enemy: terrorist groups around the world that might threathenthe US and its allies

• There was no predictable timetable for victory

• There was no middle ground: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”

Operation Enduring Freedom- War with Afghanistan• Taliban and al-Qaeda targets bombed after 9/11

• Fundamentalist group that controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 led by Mullah Mohammed Omar

• Revived as an insurgent group in the Pashtun region of Pakistan and Afghanistan

• US demanded the Taliban surrender Osama bin-Laden• They refused- airstrikes began in October 2001• Taliban overthrown from power in 2001

• New government put in placed• Removed many of the Taliban restrictions on women and western

influences

• Caught many members of al-Qaeda, but Osama bin Laden escaped

• U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan since 2001• A deal has been made in 2020 to withdraw troops from

Afghanistan only if Afghanistan upholds their end of the agreement

Axis of Evil

• 2002- Bush announced that Afghanistan was the beginning of the War on Terror

• He accused Iraq, Iran, and North Korea of developing WMD’s-weapons of mass destruction• Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that could threaten the US

• These countries were nicknamed the Axis of Evil• No evidence they were connected to 9-11

• No evidence they had cooperated with each other ever

An American Empire?

The Search for WMDs in Iraq

•US wanted a regime change in Iraq• Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons on the Kurds in

the 1980s• US feared he had an arsenal of chemical and bacterial

WMDs and was seeking nuclear arms•US claimed Iraq had a mobile chemical weapons lab,

hidden WMDs in various locations, and was trying to acquire uranium from Africa to build nukes

• All of these claims turned out to be false• Inspectors did not find evidence of any

Support Divides

• The Iraq War split alliances in the West and inspired massive antiwar protests around the world

• Traditional foes such as Russia and China did not support the war

• Traditional allies such as France and Germany did not support the war

• The war did not have UN approval, but the US went to war anyway

• They did not support a “preemptive strike” or going to war because might be a security threat in the future

• Only Great Britain remained an ally and went to war with the US

Operation Iraqi Freedom- 2003-2010

• March 2003- Bush gave Hussein 48 hours to leave or face invasion• US began with a series of airstrikes against

Iraq• US forces entered Baghdad in April of 2003• Hussein’s dictatorship collapsed

• 2005- A provisional government is established by coalition forces• 1st Arab democracy in the Middle East

• Saddam Hussein captured, tried for crimes against the Iraqi citizens, and executed in 2006

• US troops withdraw in 2011

Parallels to Vietnam?

• Looting an chaos followed in Iraq

• Insurgent groups targeted American soldiers and Iraqi supporters

• Militias of Sunni and Shiite Muslims started fighting each other• Under Hussein, Sunnis (minority population) dominated government and

army

• Shiite (majority population) now sought power and revenge

• Multiple elections held, but it was impossible to create a government that could impose order on the country

Aftermath of 9-11 at Home

The Global War on Terror

• US led war after the events of 9-11

• Goals include:• Defeat terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and

destroy their organizations

• Identify, locate, and destroy terrorist along with their organizations

• Deny sponsorship, support, and sanctuary to terrorists

• Diminish the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit

• Defend US citizens and interests at home and abroad

The War on Terror’s Four Key Principles

Make no concessions to terrorists and strike no deals.

Bring terrorists to justice for their crimes

Isolate and apply pressure on states that sponsor terrorism to force them to change their behavior.

Bolster the counter-terrorist capabilities of those countries that work with the United States and require assistance.

Department of Homeland Security

• Created in the wake of 9-11

• New Cabinet department

• Operates in the civilian sphere not military sphere like Dept. of Defense

• Primary responsibilities is protecting the US and its territories from:• Terrorist attacks (primary focus)

• Man-made accidents

• Natural disasters

USA Patriot Act

• Gave unprecedented powers to law enforcement agencies to prevent domestic terrorism• Includes the power to wire tap, spy on citizens, open letters, read email and

obtain personal records from 3rd parties

• Unlike in previous wars, the Bush administration made it a point to discourage anti-Arab or anti-Muslim sentiment

• Guantanamo Bay, Cuba• Detention camp for persons captured in Afghanistan or otherwise accused of

terrorism

Suspended Liberties

• Nov. 2001- Executive order signed• Authorized secret military tribunals for noncitizens deemed to have assisted

terrorism

• Constitutional protections would not apply

• Later, Justice Department declared American citizens could be held indefinitely without charge and not allowed to see a lawyer if the government declared them “enemy combatants”

Power of the President

• Numerous court orders and regulatins were rescinded that allowed agencies such as the CIA, FBI, and police to resume surveillance of Americans without evidence of a crime• Some authorized by Congress

• Bush implemented many of them by ignoring many laws that restricted his power of the President as commander-in-chief in wartime• NSA authorized to eavesdrop on American phone conversation

Torture Controversy

• Geneva Conventions and the International Convention against Torture• Prohibits torture and other forms of physical and mental coerion

• Jan 2002- Justice Department stated that captured members of al Qaeda were “unlawful combatants”, not members of regularly constituted armies, and that those rules did not apply

• April 2003- Bush prohibited the use of torture except where special permission had been granted

• Defense Department approved interrogation methods that most considered torture

Torture Controversy

• Jails set up in other countries outside the traditional military chain of command where torture is practiced• Suspects were kidnapped and sent to these locations

• Some military personnel:• Beat prisoners• Subjected them to electroshock• Let dogs attack• Force them to strip and lie atop each other• Waterboarding

• Photos of mistreatment of prisoners became public undermining the reputation of the US

• 2014- Full extent of the torture became known after a Senate investigation• Revealed that the Cia lied to the President and Congress about the extent of the program• Revealed that no useful information came from the torture

Winds of Change

No Child Left Behind

• NCLB Act 2001

• Required states to develop assessments in basic skills. • In TX, they were Math, ELA, Social Studies, and Science

• To receive federal funding for schools, states must give assessments to ALL students at various grade levels.

• It did not create a national standard for student achievement • Each state developed its standards

2004 Election

• George W. Bush- Republican• Hurt by Iraq war and economic growth

• John Kerry- Democrat• Vietnam vet

• Bush wins narrow victory• Popular vote won by 2%

• Electoral won by 34 votes

• New Goal: “ending tyranny in the world”• Used freedom, free, and liberty 49 times in his 2nd inaugural address

compared to 7 in this first

Hurricane Katrina 2005

• Aug 29- Caused destruction along the Gulf Coast mainly due to storm surge

• Devastated New Orleans• Levees failed causing 80% of the city to flood and surrounding parishes

• Evacuation order given a day before the storm hit• No provision for the poor or those without automobiles• FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) had done almost no prep

• There was death, looting, and violence in the wake• Vast numbers of people abandoned in the flood waters, mostly African American• $80 billion in damages, with 1500 deaths, 2/3 population displaced

• Where government failed, private citizens prevailed• People with boats went in to rescue those stranded• Private donations for aid• Many people became refugees and relocated to other states such as Texas

Rehabilitating Infrastructure

• I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapses• Minneapolis, Minnesota• 13 people died in the collapse

•Result• Attention is brought nation wide to our aging

infrastructure

Battle over the Border

• Fear that terrorists crossing the border merged with worries about illegal immigration

• Number of Border Patrol officers increased

• 400,000 undocumented immigrants were being deported annually

• 2006- House approved a bill making it a felony to be in the country illegally and a crime to offer aid to undocumented immigrants• In response, a series of massive demonstrations took place with legal and

undocumented immigrants and their supported in cities across the country

• All Congress could agree upon was building a 700 mile long wall along part of the US-Mexico border

“Clash of Civilizations”

• Samuel P. Huntington- The Clash of Civilization and the Remaking of the World Order (1996)• Argued that with the Cold War over, a new impending global conflict between

Western and Islamic “civilizations”

• After 9-11, many interpreted this as freedom loving US versus militant authoritarian Muslims as a way to make sense of the attacks• Nearly 5 million Americans practiced Islam, most of which were appalled at

the attacks

• Bush insisted that the war on terror was not against Islam, but many Americans found it difficult to separate the two

The Constitution and Liberty

• June 2003• Court upheld the right of colleges and universities to take race into

consideration in admission

• Lawrence v. Texas- ruled unconstitutional a Texas law making homosexual acts a crime• Paved the way for 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges which overturned state laws barring the

marriages of same-sex couples• 2003- 2/3 Americans opposed same-sex marriages

• 2015- 60% supported them

Court and President

• 2004- Hamdi v Rumsfeld• Hamdi- a US citizen who moved to Saudi Arabia and captured in Afghanistan,

held in military prison in South Carolina without charge or right to see a lawyer

• Court ruled that war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens

• 2006- Court ruled against the Bush administration assumptions concerning the Geneva Convention and prisoners

• 2008- Court ruled that detainees at Guantanamo Bay retained the right to challenge their detention

Midterm Elections 2006

• Democrats gain control of Congress for the 1st time since 1994• Due to unpopularity with Iraq War, Huricane Katrina disaster, and political

scandals

• Nancy Pelosi becomes the 1st female Speaker of the House in 2007

World-wide Financial Recession

• Banks in America and Europe began to fail for various reasons

• Stock market prices began to fall as well

• Many countries around the world especially the US and European counties infused bailout funds to help stabilize the economies

Roots of Trouble in Real Estate

• With the Recession in the year 2000, the Fed lowered interest rates to stimulate the economy

• People took low interest loans to buy houses• Caused house prices to rise

• This led to speculation in the housing market

• Mortgages were bundled with other investments and sold to banks and investors

The Great Recession

• Overbuilding caused house prices to fall in 2007• Many loans had adjustable interest

rates

• When rates increased, people could not pay their mortgages

• Number of foreclosures increased

Government Intervention

• In 2008- the government tried to stimulate the economy through rebates to taxpayers and businesses

• Government took over the nation’s largest mortgage lenders

• Firms with mortgage-backed securities began to fail

• Banks stopped lending money to business and consumers

President Bush’s Economic Bailout

• Emergency Economic Stabilization Act passed by President Bush in Oct. 2008• Created the TARP- Troubled Asset Relief Program

• $700 Billon Bailout

• Money used to purchase mortgage-backed securities and supply cash directly to banks

President Obama’s and the Financial Crisis

• Wanted to prevent another Great Depression

• Wanted to stimulate the economy by• Job creation

• Infrastructure improvements

• Changing the healthcare system

Obama’s Economic Bailout

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009• Economic stimulus package

• $787 Billion Stimulus Package

• Intended to create jobs, promote investment, and increase consumer spending during the recession

• Part of the money was spent by the federal government, part given to state governments

2008 Election

• Democrat- Barack Obama• Obama won both the popular vote and the electoral

vote

• Republican- John McCain• Hindered by Bush unpopularity, economic crisis, and

Sarah Palin VP choice (seemingly unfamiliar with foreign and domestic policy in interviews raised questions about McCain’s judgement)

• Obama was the first African American to win a major party nomination defeating Hilary Clinton

• President Obama becomes the first African American President

Obama in Office

Hilary Clinton

• Former First Lady and wife of former President Bill Clinton

• Became a US Senator from New York from 2001-2009

• Served as the Secretary of State under President Obama for 4 years

Sonia Sotomayor

• First Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court

• Nominated by Obama in 2009

Initial Policies

• Announced plans to close Guantanamo Bay, bar use of torture, repair diplomatic relations with Muslim world

• 1st Budget anticipated active government support for health care, clean energy, public education• $800 billion stimulus package for construction projects, unemployment, and

state aid to balance their budgets

BP Oil Spill 2010

• Location: Gulf of Mexico

• British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes April 20, 2010

• Millions of gallons of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico until the well is temporarily capped on July 15.

• Relief wells were used to seal the well in Sept. 2010

• It is the worst oil spill in American history

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010• Commonly called the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare

• The ACA was enacted with the following goals:• Increase the quality and affordability of health insurance• Lowering the rate of people who were uninsured• Reducing the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government

• It requires insurance companies to• Cover all applicants • Have new minimum standards• Offer same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions

• Roughly 20 million Americans gained health insurance under the Act

Occupy Wall Street Movement

• Protest movement that began Sept. 17, 2011 in New York and lasted for several months

• The main issues:• A more balance distribution of income• More and better jobs• Bank reform• Relief to indebted students (student loans)• Alleviation for the foreclosure situations (common across the country at the time due to the

financial recession)• Greed and corruption of corporations• Reduction of the influence of corporations on politics

• Slogans include: “We are the 99%”

• Methods of protest include:• Occupation, Civil disobedience, Picketing, Demonstrations, Internet activism

• Movement spread to most major cities across the country

The Obama Presidency

Post-racial America?

• Obama’s election spurred discussions that the nation had finally put racial inequality behind it

• 2013 the Court used that logic to invalidate the heart of the Voting Rights Act making certain Southern States gain permission from the Justice Department before changing their voting laws• New laws created establishing limits on early voting and requiring the

possession of state-issued identification

• These measures limited the right to vote of the ppor

Origins of Black Lives Matter

• 2012- Trayvon Martin, African American youth, killed by George Zimmerman a white member of the neighborhood watch in Flordia in which Zimmerman was acquitted

• 2014- Eric Garner, African American, selling cigarettes on the street in NYC was wrestled to the ground by police and died from a choke hold• Grand jury declined to bring up charges

• Other events occurred over the next several months• Cleveland police officer shot 12 year old boy with toy gun in a park

• 25 year old died in police van after arrest for carrying a small knife (legal) in Maryland

• Ferguson, MI- Michael Brown, 18, shot by a white officer who was cleared of charges

Black Lives Matter

• National movement that demanded police practices be changed and officers who use excessive force be held accountable

• Social media used to organize protests and spread the encounters between African Americans and the police

• The movement revealed a divide • 80% of African Americans but only 30% of whites agreed with statements that

African Americans are victims of discriminatory treatment by the police

Obama and the World

• 2011- Obama ended the Iraq War

• Pledge to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in 2014, but a resurgence of the Taliban and upopularity of the American-backed Afghan government caused this deadline to be missed and remain uncertain

• May 2011- Osama bin Laden Assassinated

• Air force sent to assist NATO in the overthrowing of Libya dictator Muamar Gadhafi

• 2015- Nuclear Deal with Iran for development of energy not weapons

Resumed Relations with Cuba• In Dec 2014- Obama announced it would

resume normal diplomatic relations with Cuba

• July 2015- embassies in both Cuba and the United States reopen after being closed in 1961

• March 2016- Obama is the first sitting President to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years

• Commercial flights between the US and Cuba begin in August 2016

• Nov 2016- Fidel Castro dies

ISIS

• ISIS- Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham• Terrorist group that wanted to become a legitimate power in Iraq, Libya,

and Syria• April 2013- began seizing territory in Syria along the Turkish border and

key areas in Iraq• Exceptionally brutal- beheaded prisoners and drove out religious

minorities from territories• Videos posted on social media which horrified most of the world, but also

attracted recruits from around the world

• Sponsored international terrorism• 2015- 100+ killed in Paris / 14 killed in CA

• US and coalition forces responded with air strikes while ground forces in affected countries have slowly been reclaiming lost territory

Edward Snowden

• Former NSA employee released documents that showed the NSA and the government• Monitored virtually all telephone, text, and email traffic

• Tracked cell phones

• Spied on communications fo world leaders including those of allies

• Worked with internet companies to gain access to user data

• Obama administration responded by charging Snowden under the Espionage Act of 1917• Snowden moved to Russia to avoid prosecution

Tea Party Movement

• Political movement known for advocating the reduction of national debt and federal budget deficit by reducing government spending and taxes

• Their known references the Boston Tea Party

• Protests began in 2009• They protested the Economic Bailout

• Most of their recent activities have been focused on opposing the efforts of the Obama Administration

Hurricane Sandy

• 2012- Devastated the Northeast of the US

• Considered the worst Atlantic hurricane

• Affected all states on the Atlantic seaboard but New York and New Jersey were hit the worst

• Caused $65 billion in damages

• Killed 72 people in America

• Only Hurricane Katrina has been worse

2012 Election

• Democrat- Obama• Republican- Mitt Romney

• 1st Mormon to receive a major party nomination• Chose Paul D. Ryan as his running mate (Catholic) and Tea Party member• 1st time Republicans did not have a protest on the ticket

• Big Issues• Abortion• Afghanistan• Health-care• Economy• Legislative gridlock and partisanship

• Obam is re-elected

Sandy-Hook Elementary Shooting

• Newtown, Connecticut Dec. 14, 2012

• 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot 20 children and 6 adults

• Also shot his mother prior to going to the school

• Committed suicide when the police arrived

• Investigators discovered that he planned the shooting, but no one knows why

• This is the worst mass shooting at a high-school or grade school in US history

Boston Marathon Bombing

• April 15, 2013

• The marathon was disrupted by 2 explosions on the sidewalk near the finish line,

• 3 spectators died and 264 injured

• The race was halted, preventing many from finishing.

• The explosions, later revealed to be bombings, received widespread international media attention.

The Manhunt• FBI identified Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan

Tsarnaev as suspects for the Marathon Bombing• Images were released, and Tamerlan was run over by his brother while trying to

escape the police after engaging them in a firefight

• April 19th- the manhunt for Dzhokar began• Law enforcement search a 20-block area of Watertown, Massachusetts• Police told residents to stay indoors while the search occurred• Shortly after the order to stay inside was rescinded (~7 PM), Dzhokar was

discovered hiding in a boat in a residents back yard

• He was arrested and admitted that he and his brother were motivated by Islamic extremist beliefs, but they were self-radicalized and unconnected with any other outside terrorist group

• He was sentence to death in 2015

Innovation in the Workplace• Information Technology (IT)

• Use of computers and internet• Promotes E-commerce

• Just-in-time• Parts arrive at the precise time they are needed during the

manufacturing process• Made possible by computer tracking• No more need for large inventories

• Time-analysis Study• Trained observers record how long a qualified worker takes to perform a

task• Allows managers to improve production methods• Increases efficiency