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US Hostages Taken
The US-backed Shah are overthrown in Iran. Iranian students take hostage of 63 US diplomats for 444 days, while the US holds $12 billion in Iranian assets. The hostages are eventually freed Jan 20, 1981. -
Afghanistan War
Soviets invade Afghanistan, install a puppet regime. US helps train and arm Muslim mujahideen insurgents so they can battle USSR. Charlie Wilson (Senator) was a huge advocate of aiding and supplying the Afgan mujahideen so they could fight the Soviets. The mission was known as Operation Cyclone, and it was the largest-ever CIA covert operation. -
Detente Ends
Jimmy Carter ends the detente following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Carter also calls for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics and an increase in military spending. -
Nicaraguan Revolution
A revolution takes place in Nicaragua between the Sandinistas and the Contras. The Sandanistas were communist, and the US feared the prescence of a communist nation so close to home, so they began to support the Contras. -
Boland Amendment
Congress passes the Boland Amendment, which prohibited further support for the Contras. The government could no longer spend money on, equip, or give advice to the Contra rebels, although parts of the government still wished to do so. This led to problems later with the Iran-Contra Affair. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
Ronald Reagan begins to increase military spending with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as "Star Wars." Reagan's decision to increase military spending heightens tensions between the US and USSR. -
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine is announced, which was the US's plan to end the Cold War. In an attempt to diminish the Soviet influence on the world, the US planned to provide aid to anti-communist guerrillas. Support was provided to countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. All US foreign policy was centered around the Reagan Doctrine until the end of the Cold War in 1991. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Senior US officials secretly sell American weapons to Iran, who was under an arms embargo at the time, in order to fund the Contra effort in Nicaragua. Since Iran was under an arms embargo and funding of the Contras was no longer allowed by the government, many senior officials were investigated. However, there was not enough evidence to charge Reagan. -
"Tear down this wall!"
Ronald Reagan gives an important speech in Berlin, saying "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" in reference to the Berlin Wall. Reagan said that the destruction of the wall would prove that the Soviets really do want better relations with the US. This was a continuation of the US fight against Communism and near the end of the Cold War. -
Berlin Wall Destroyed
There were weeks of civil unrest in the Soviet Union, and on Nov. 9 they announced that people could now cross the Berlin Wall. People crossed and climbed onto the wall to meet with West Germans to celebrate their freedom to travel to West Berlin and West Germany. It was an important day for Americans because their efforts to bring more freedom to East Berlin, controlled by the Communist Soviets, were finally realized. It also signified that the USSR and the Cold War were nearing their ends. -
US Invades Panama
George H W Bush orders the invasion of Panama. Tensions had been rising because of the dictatorial actions of Manuel Noriega. Noriega had declared a state of war between US and Panama. The US invaded to protect the US citizens in Panama, defend democracy and human rights, combat drug trafficking, and protect the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties planned on giving control of the Panama Canal to Panama (from the US) by 2000. -
Gulf War
The US, along with 35 other nations from the UN, begin fighting against Iraq for their invasion and annexation of Kuwait. The US's and rest of the world's intervention is evidence of their perceived duty to help the rest of the world when they are threatened. The coalition forces eventually liberated Kuwait and pushed back against the Iraqi forces. On March 10, 1991, US soldiers started being removed from the Persian Gulf following a cease-fire agreement. -
Sanctions Against Iraq
The US places sanctions (financial and trade embargo) on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait. This was important for American foreign policy because it set the precedent that we would not tolerate the invasion of other countries. The sanctions original intentions were to get Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, pay damage costs, and to disclose and destroy and WMDs. The sanctions remained in place until 2003, when Saddam Hussein was forced out of power in Iraq. -
Two Plus Four Treaty
East Germany, West Germany, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the United States all negotiated this treaty. The treaty combined E Germany and W Germany into a unified Germany again. It also relinquished all power that the four nations occupying Germany since WWII had. Germany was now its own, unified country again. This was important for American foreign policy because we successfully helped build up a desolate German nation after WWII and united W Germany with E Germany. -
Soviet Union Dissolves
The Soviet Union dissolves, leaving the US as the world's sole superpower. Prior to the USSR's dissolution, the Berlin Wall was no longer needed and was torn down. This was a big day for US foreign policy because they US no longer had another superpower to compete with. Their foreign policy of containment of communism had worked and they outlasted the Soviets in the Cold War. Democracy had defeated Communism. -
START II
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) was signed by US President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin in order to reduce the number of MIRVs and ICBMs each country could have. It showed that the US had the intention to reduce how many nuclear arms each country could have because of their danger to the world, although it never came into effect. Instead, in 2003, a treaty similar to START II, SORT, came into effect and reduced the allowed nuclear warheads to 1700-2,200. -
NATO Bombs Yugoslavia
NATO bombs Yugoslavia in order to get them to withdraw from Kosovo during the Kosovo War. NATO's intervention was described as a humanitarian intervention for Yugoslavia's persecution of Kosovo citizens in Kosovo. The bombings eventually ended the war. This is more evidence as the US's role as the world's "police" force.
