History 65

A New Order

April 11, 2006

I. The Reagan Revolution

1. Foreign Policy Patterns (tilt toward executive power; role of Casey and road to Iran-contra)

2. Outside the Reagan Agenda (Betamax, trade, immigration, Morrison)

3. 1986 (Senate elections and emergence of Mitchell; Reagan legacy?)

II. The End of the Cold War and the Revival of Middle East Tensions

            1. The Cold War Ends (Gorbachev and crumbling of Soviet bloc—perestroika, glasnost; Eastern bloc strategies of survival; economics, Solidarity, and Poland; Hungary and DDR; collapse of East Germany and reunification; importance of the Baltic States and emergence of Yeltsin; dissolution of USSR)

            2. The Middle East in the New World Order (Gorbachev foreign policy; PSC and Tiananmen; Saddam after the Iraq war; Bush and Shamir, Bush and the Saudis; run-up to invasion of Kuwait—US intelligence failure?; Bush and international coalition; role of UN and role of Congress; decision for war; outcome of conflict)

III. The Rise and Fall of Bush I

            1. Bush, Realpolitik, and a New World Order (the difficulties of realism: China and the Tiananmen crisis; Haiti and Aristide; the NATO powers and the collapse of Yugoslavia: could more have been done?)

            2. Politics, Principle, and Economic Choices (Bush, taxes, and 1988 campaign; deficit, interest rate, and economic slowdown; Darman and budget deal; emergence of Gingrich; political fallout)

            3. Politics of Scandal (Thomas/Hill hearings; emergence of sexual harassment as issue; Webster and politics of abortion; “Year of the Woman”; House bank scandal; terms-limits movement; Gingrich and ’92 Group)

            4. The Election (emergence of Clinton; scandals and Tsongas; Clinton and emergence of Perot—balanced budget, congressional reform, trade; Perot withdrawal; Gore selection and Bush decline; Perot re-entry; fall outcome)