Chapter 27
In This Chapter
• The rise of the Third World
• Patterns of decolonization
• Middle East and Africa
• Asia and Latin America
• The former Soviet Union
After World War II, the developing world—also referred to by its Cold War classification, the Third World—emerged to take a larger role in world politics. These nations from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East were not as economically and politically advanced as the Western nations. Most of this backwardness originated from the colonial and imperial policies that had once dominated these nations.
The Rise of the Third World
Some steps had been taken to decolonize territories under Western controlafter World War I. Britain and France had taken control of most of the former German territories but found administration difficult at best. World War I had weakened the nations of Western Europe. As a result, they were simply unable to keep control of large imperial empires.
At the end of World War II, decolonization became the prevailing trend throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. What was weakened by World War I was outmodedand destroyed by World War II. For the western European nations, the reality was that they were no longer able to exert imperial control over faraway territories whose citizens were becoming more and more educated and nationalistic themselves. As a result, from the 1940s to 1970s, dozens of new nations were established after being freed from the dominion of their imperial mother country.
There were no set patterns to decolonization; the causes, means, and results varied from country to country. But some basic factors did help to determine whether a new, decolonized nation succeeded. Did the new nation have a tradition of self-government under imperial rule? Did the nation have to fight for independence? Were there differentethnic, cultural, or religious groups in the new nation? What natural resources did the new nation have to establish its economy? What position did the new nation take in the Cold War? The Middle East responded to these questions in several ways.
The Middle East
After World War II, several general trends influenced the politics of the Middle East:
• The development of petroleum resources
• Cold War political rivalries in the region
• The Arab-Israeli conflict
• The conflict between modernization and traditional Islamic culture
• The tradition of authoritarian government in the region
Walk Like an Egyptian
Egypt became an independent republic in 1952. In 1954, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser took control and created an authoritarian government. Nasser was an advocate of modernization and pan-Arabism. He tried to create a United Arab Republic that would link all of the Arab nations together in a commonwealth. Although he failed at that, he was successful in modernizing Egypt. To bankroll this modernization, Nasser nationalized foreign corporations and industries. In addition, he courted the Soviet Union enough that it sent advisors and engineers to help construct the Aswan Dam. Later, however, when the Soviet Union tried to influence Egyptian politics, Nasser expelled them. These bold nationalist actions were not Nasser’s last. He also declared ownership of the Suez Canal, which angered France, Britain, and Israel. These countries tried to regain control of the canal but were forced to withdraw by the Cold War superpowers.
When Nasser died in 1970, he was succeeded by Anwar el-Sadat. Unlike his predecessor,Sadat drew Egypt closer to the United States, and became the first Arab leader to recognize the nation of Israel in 1978. As a result, Sadat was assassinated by Islamic terrorists in 1981. From that point, Egypt has been ruled by Hosni Mubarak, a secularauthoritarian who serves as president.
The Nation of Israel
With the Balfour Declaration after World War I, the British declared their intention to create an independent Jewish nation in Palestine. During the 1920s and 1930s, they kept this decision low-key, to avoid Arab unrest in the region.
After World War II and the Holocaust, the British, backed by the United States, revisited the question of a Jewish nation. In May 1948, the nation of Israel was created out of territory from Palestine. This upset the Arab community, especially when millionsof Palestinian Arabs were displaced. In 1964, the displaced Palestinian Arabs gained leadership and a voice with the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat. This organization was not without controversybecause of its combination of terrorist and political tactics in seeking its goals, which included the destruction of the nation of Israel and the return of its territoriesto Palestinian Arabs.
What in the World
Albert Einstein was very active in the discussions regarding the creation of Israel. In 1952, when the president of Israel died, the Israeli government asked Einstein if he would take the powerfulpolitical position. Einstein declined, but was honored to have been asked.
The Arab nations of the Middle East fought frequently against Israel, most notably in the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In each war, the well-trainedand armed Israeli army defeated the Arab nations quickly and decisively. Afterward, Israel acquired territory from the Arab nations to enhance its own borders. Responding to these defeats, the PLO terrorism was continued in the Israeli nation and abroad. The most infamous attack abroad involved the assassination of members of the Israeli Summer Olympic team in 1972 in West Germany.
By the end of the 1970s, many Arab nations started to understand the political reality of the situation. Israel was in the region to stay. Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt, at the urging of President Jimmy Carter, was the first Arab leader to recognize the nation of Israel. Other Arab states followed Egypt’s lead, but this was not the end of problems for Israel.
Notable Quotable
“We are embarking on a course that will greatly endanger any hope of a peacefulalliance with forces who could be our allies in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Arabs who will be evicted from Palestine … will grow to hate us.”
—Aharon Zisling, Israeli minister, 1948
The Israelis had to constantly deal with terrorist attacks, demonstrations, and protests within its bordersfrom the Palestinian population that remained in Palestine. Israel, which as a democracy was committedto human rights, often used force against Palestinian civilians. Through the 1990s, despite peace agreements between the Palestinians and Israelis, tensions were high and continue to be so. This ensured that Israel’s relationships with the other Arab nations remained delicate at best.
Traditional Authoritarianism
In Iran and Iraq, old ways of traditional authoritarian governments emerged by the twenty-first century. During the 1920s, Iran had been ruled by the secular Pahlavi shahs. The last shah of Iran ruled from 1941 to 1979. The shahs with the help of opportunistic British industry used Iran’s oil resources to industrialize and modernize the nation. The shah discouraged traditional Islamic culture and encouragedthe Westernization of the nation. Thus Iran made a natural ally to the United States during the rule of the shah. But not all Iranian people were as convinced of cooperative policies with the British and the United States. The Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq was one who disliked the pro-Western trend in the Shah’s policies. When he acted on his convictions, the British and the United States sponsored an Iranin pro-Shah force to remove him from power. This Western action would later be a rallying cry for Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Ironically, the Shah, in his attempt to Westernize also stepped on many human rights and repressed all opposition. In response, in 1979, the Shiite cleric Ayatollah Khomeini organized a group of loyal followers and took control of the country.
The Islamic Revolution changed Iran into a decidedly anti-Western nation. The theocracy that Khomeini created remains in power today, despite a devastating war with neighboring Iraq from 1980 to 1988. The sixth and current President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to guide Iran on its authoritarian and anti-Westernstance.
Iraq came under the control of the dictator Saddam Hussein in 1979. Once supported by the United States in his opposition to neighboring Iran, Hussein repressed his people in his quest to retain power in Iraq. In 1990, he invaded Kuwait in hopes of gaining more control over the price of oil in the region. A coalition of nations led by the United States pushed Hussein out of Kuwait in the First Gulf War in 1991. The UN then placed trade sanctions on Iraq to force Hussein to follow the cease-fire agreement at the end of the war.
In 2003, the United States and member nations of NATO invaded Iraq and toppled Hussein’s dictatorship because of noncompliance with the peace agreement and human rights violations. Saddam Hussein was executed after a trial by the Iraqi people in 2006. The nation of Iraq is currently occupied by U.S. forces who are trying to support the creation and development of an Iraqi democratic republic. It remains to be seen whether this will work in Iraq. The mistrust and conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is intense, as it is with the Kurdish ethnic minority in northern Iraq.
The Others
The other nations of the Middle East responded to decolonization in a more moderatefashion. Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan all tried to walk the uneasy balance between traditional and secular authoritarianism while following the general trends of decolonization that shaped the Middle East. They have emerged as powerful political players with many economic and political resources that influence regional and international politics very successfully.
African Independence
After World War II, European colonial rule in Africa quickly came to an end. During the 1950s and 1960s, most of the African nations had gained independence. The first nation to gain its independence was the Gold Coast in 1957. After becoming free of British rule, the Gold Coast changed its name to Ghana. Others soon followed. By 1960, there were 17 new, independent nations in Africa. Eleven more were founded from 1961 to 1965.
Challenges in Africa
The new African nations had a diverse background and future. A movement for African unity, Pan-Africanism, became popular on the continent, leading to the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. This organization representedthe diverse economic views of 32 African nations.
But the Pan-African movement and OAU had a tough job. Although gaining independence,the nations of Africa faced many challenges in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries:
• Reliance on single export crop
• The lack of technology and manufactured goods
What in the World
Some of the African nations, in an effort to inspire a sense of nationhood among their people, took names from African history. The Gold Coast and the French Sudan were declared to be Ghana and Mali; while Southern Rhodesia was named Zimbabwe after the Bantu cultural center.
• Little foundation for an industrial economy
• Population and urban growth
• AIDS epidemic
• Lack of infrastructure
• Large gap between rich and the poor
• Corruption and oppressive military regimes
• Warring tribal and ethnic groups
• Little conception of nationhood
Change in African Society and Culture
The list of challenges the African nations face is long, but there is hope. Some dictatorshipshave given way to democratic governments, although this has sometimes resulted in civil war. Another reason for hope comes from the example of leadership by Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela was a leader in the African National Congress (ANC), which worked to end apartheid in South Africa beginning in the 1950s. In 1962, Mandela was arrested for protesting and calling for armed resistance against apartheid laws. From prison, Mandela continued to be a voice and symbol of protest against apartheid.Released from prison in 1990, he became a political leader in South Africa when apartheid was coming to an end. When South Africa had its first truly free democraticelections in 1993, Mandela was elected South Africa’s first black president.
With independence during the 1950s and 1960s, the new African nations experienced cultural and societal changes. There was tension between the traditional or country culture of Africa and Western ways and urban culture. Many in Africa wanted to Westernize because they equated it with modernization, which would be economicallybeneficial. The tension between the two groups was evident in African art and literature, where there appears to be a balance of tradition and the West. That balanceis still being sought out by African culture and society.
An Imperial Free Asia
Among the decolonized nations of the world, Asia was the most successful at creating economic prosperity and stable governments. There was also cooperation among the nations, with the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) founded in 1967. But regardless of these developments, Asia has experienced growing pains, sometimes magnified by the Cold War. The Philippines received its freedom from the United States in 1946 and others followed from that point.
Indian and Pakistani Independence
The people of the Indian subcontinent gained their independence from Britain quickly, with conflicts and riots between Hindus and Muslims speeding up the process.On August 15, 1947, the nations of India and Pakistan were created: Pakistan for the Muslim population, India for the Hindus. With this partitioning, the religious populations caught on the wrong sides of the border had to flee in a chaotic and devastatingdiaspora. At least a million lives were lost. In addition, Mohandas Gandhi, a leader in the Indian nationalist movement, was assassinated in January 1948 by a Hindu extremist who was opposed to his stance on tolerance between the religious traditions.
Despite their rough starts, both nations made it into the twenty-first century. Pakistanhas become a modern Islamic republic and power in the region. However, it has an unstable authoritarian form of government that has been repressive. India has become a democratic nation and a regional political power and global economic power. These nations have always been at odds because of the nature of their religiousand political differences. Tension has been especially high over disputed border territory. Unfortunately both nations have nuclear weapons, making the tensions and their consequences even more difficult.
Developments in Southeast Asia
After the Indian subcontinent was freed, Britain also granted freedom to its colonialpossessions in Southeast Asia, including Burma in 1948, Malaysia in 1957, and Singapore in 1965. The Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia, gained its freedom in 1949 from the Netherlands. At the Geneva Conference of 1954, the French colonial possessionsof Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam were also granted independence. Finally in 1997, Hong Kong was returned to mainland China by the British.
Sadly with these countries’ independence, military or authoritarian governments soon followed and became the trend throughout Southeast Asia. These governments value conformity and tradition over freedom and human rights. As a result, they have been oppressive to different ethnic, religious, and political groups.
Modern Japan
After World War II, with the aid of the United States, Japan modernized quickly. By the 1960s, it had become a regional economic power. By the 1980s, Japan was a global economic power, with the world’s third most productive economy and one of the world’s highest per capita income. This amazing comeback from devastation was partly due to the fact that the United States viewed it as an anchor in its Cold War policy in Asia and spent a lot of time and money investing in creating a democratic capitalist nation.
Modeled after the British constitutional monarchy, Japan became a parliamentary democracy, with the Japanese emperor retaining only a symbolic role in the government.During the 1990s, the Japanese economy experienced a serious downturn that put into question the traditional Japanese values of family and conformity. As a result, the younger Japanese generations have a desire for greater gender equality and individualvoice.
The “Little Tigers” and North Korea
Much like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea emerged as economically prosperous and free nations. At first, Taiwan and South Korea both had authoritarian governments. Taiwan was dominated by the Nationalist Party and Chiang Kai-shek until his death in 1975, when Taiwan began to move rapidly toward a democratic and free society.
South Korea had an authoritarian form of government until 1989, when free elections were held. Afterward, the South Korean economy expanded rapidly, becoming one of the leading nations in the information age. Because of their economic strength, both South Korea and Taiwan became known as “little tigers,” with the big “tiger” being the Japanese economy.
Unfortunately, North Korea has not advanced as much as South Korea and Taiwan because its dictator, Kim Il Sung, created a communist and oppressive regime that stifled economic prosperity and human rights to this day under his son and successor, Kim Jong-Il.
Communist China
The People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was the most populous nation to become communistto date. Like the other nations of East Asia, China worked to modernize. Mao led the country from 1949 to 1976, creating an authoritarian government that was able to carry out social, economic, and industrial reform in the country. But with Mao’s reforms, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were oppressive against dissenters.
Even after Mao’s death, this trend continued in China. When the events in Eastern Europe inspired Chinese students in May 1989 to protest for human rights, the government refused and sent the military into Tiananmen Square to disperse the studentsby force. So although China is modernized and actively becoming a large part of the global economy, the Chinese government’s human rights violations are still an issue to be dealt with in the twenty-first century.
Latin America
The Latin American nations before World War II had been independent for close to 100 years. During the 1930s, with the Great Depression, most of the states’ economiesmoved away from the export of raw materials and the import of finished goods. The new problem that faced these nations was that they were dependent on Western industrial nations for their technology in industry. In addition, they had a problem finding markets for the new finished goods that they were producing.
By the 1960s, these frustrations resulted in the return to the export-import type of economies that had dominated Latin American before World War II. And like before, the nations of Latin America encouraged multinational corporations to take over agriculture and industry. So by the early 1980s, Latin America was again dependenton the industrialized West.
When the West experienced economic difficulties during the 1980s, the Latin American nations that depended so much on the West fell apart. The Latin American people believed these economic problems were caused by governments having too much control and peasants not growing enough food for consumption. So there was a general movement from authoritarian governments to democracies during the 1980s and 1990s, although there were some holdouts like Peru. Hopefully this trend toward democratization of Latin America will continue; but in order for democracy to advance, the economic issues of the region need to be solved.
Since the inception of the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary, the United States has taken a heavy-handed approach with Latin American nations, with frequentpolitical and military interventions. The Latin American nations started to resist this intervention after World War II, when Latin America went through significantcultural changes, mostly due to a population explosion that increased the size of the cities and magnified urban problems. In addition, the economic gap between the rich and the poor grew wider.
In 1948, the Latin American nations formed the Organization of American States (OAS), which called for an end to U.S. involvement in Central and South America. Of course, U.S. involvement did not end. With the Cold War, U.S. involvement actually intensified, with the United States supplying more money and aid to anti-communistnations, including repressive dictatorships and authoritarian governments.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, there are still many challenges for Latin America. The region’s economy is still dependent on the export of bananas, coffee, and cotton. The Latin American nations are dependent on the West, especially the United States, economically and politically. The divide between the rich and the poor continues to grow. Because of the economic problems associated with the lack of industry and population growth, the international drug trade took root in Latin America. Unstable governments, especially Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, permitted the manufacture and export of cocaine and marijuana to the world including the United States. This drug trafficking and the power it bestows upon a criminal elementhas continued into the twenty-first century despite U.S. preventative measures.
The Walls Come Tumbling Down
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the communist governments of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had serious economic challenges to overcome. As a result, the communist ideology of the governments was overturned and replaced with governmentsthat were self-deterministic and democratic.
The Reign of Gorbachev
When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, he believed that only radical reforms would help solve the economic problems of the country. He introduced perestroika, meaning restructuring, which introduced a limited market economy to the Soviets, as well asglasnost, or openness, to introduce and encouragejournalistic and political freedom. In 1988, guided by some economic success, Gorbachev also initiated democratic political reforms that created a new Soviet parliamentcalled the Congress of People’s Deputies. After their election, they met in 1989. This democratic reform was followed by the legalization of non-communist parties. In addition in March 1990, Gorbachev was elected the first and also last President of the Soviet Union.
With Gorbachev’s reform movement, ethnic tensions in the Soviet Union surfaced. Nationalist movements formed in the different Soviet republics. From 1988 to 1990, there were many calls for independence from these nationalist movements in the Soviet republics. Communist conservatives in the Soviet Union decided that they had enough of Gorbachev and democratic reforms. They seized power and arrested Gorbachev on August 19, 1991, but Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian Republic, resisted this group and was able to regain control for Gorbachev. By 1991, the Soviet republics’ continued calls for independence were successful. Gorbachev relented and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Gorbachev then resigned from power on December 25, 1991, and gave up his responsibilities to Yeltsin.
Notable Quotable
"Society now has liberty; it has been emancipated politically and spiritually. And that is the main achievement that we have not fully comprehended because we have not yet learned how to use that liberty.”
—Mikhail Gorbachev, 1991
Yeltsin and Putin
When Boris Yeltsin took office in 1991, he introduced a complete free market economy to the Russian Republic as quickly as possible. Despite his well-meaning intentions, this introduction brought economic hardships to the republic, leading to the rise of organized crime and corruption. In addition, Yeltsin used brutal militaryforce against the Chechens to force them to remain with the Russian Republic. By the end of 1999, his rule of the Russian republic was ineffective. As a result, he resigned and was replaced by Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin took office vowing to set the region of Chechnya straight. He also promised reforms to help strengthen the Russian economy. These reforms included the introduction of free purchase and sale of land and tax cuts. Putin also made numerous attempts to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to aid the sagging Russian economy. He remained in power into the twenty-first century both trying to integrate Russia with the European community and to remain a world power. This integration will be difficult due to Putin’s poor human rights record and repressive, anti-democratic policies. Thus it remains to be seen what Russia’s role will be in the future.
The Least You Need to Know
• After World War II, many former colonies around the world were granted independence.
• The newly independent nations developed differently according to the economic,cultural, and political environment.
• There are many economic and political challenges for the new nations that have been established in the developing world.