latin america

• Deng Xiaoping


  Set China on a new economic course by visiting the US to explore the benefits of a free market
• Iranian Revolution


  Ushered in a new era of clashing civilizations by overthrowing the Shah and proclaiming an Islamic republic
• Thatcher's election


  Marked the revival of free market economics in Britain
• Soviet intervention in Afghanistan

  Began their policy of self-destruction
• Carter presidency


  Committed to human rights and supported Soviet dissidents and Jewish emigrants
• SALT II talks were bogged down and faced growing opposition in the US
• Rise of neoconservatism
• Brezhnev


  Was ill and bordering senile
• The Soviet military buildup continued, with modernisation of the Warsaw Pact and increased numbers of short and medium-range missiles pointing at NATO countries
• Cuban troops and military advisors had stayed in Angola
• Soviet human rights abuses meant some in the Soviet leadership were becoming less keen on detente
• Iran


  Was the biggest Middle Eastern state with a population 3 times the size of Iraq, and the third largest oil producer in the world
• CIA-backed coup overthrew Mossadegh and placed the Shah in control of Iran


  19 August 1953
• The Shah's regime


  Was secular but brutal, deeply repressive, and pro-Western, furnishing his family with immense wealth
• The American-backed Shah of Iran was overthrown, not by a Soviet puppet but by something unexpected


  January-February 1979
• The US embassy in Tehran was stormed, holding 52 US diplomats and citizens hostage
• The PDPA leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, overthrew President Daoud Khan with the support of the Afghan army


  April 1978
• Taraki's government introduced land reform and measures to improve the status of women
• Brezhnev felt the reforms had been botched and caused unnecessary divisions, but he hesitated to intervene
• The new socialist government in Afghanistan was attacked by Afghan tribal resistance and Islamic mujahideen, who controlled rural areas
• Operation Cyclone, the CIA programme to arm and finance the Mujahideen, began


  3 July 1979
• Britain's MI6 also conducted covert operations in Afghanistan and were supporting Zia's regime in neighbouring Pakistan
• Afghanistan


  Was strategically important for the USSR, close to Central Asian republics which shared a 2500km border with the USSR
• After the Iranian revolution, the Soviets were afraid of Islamic fundamentalism spreading to the USSR
• Brezhnev was concerned the Soviets were in danger of losing their strategic, ideological, political and economic influence in Afghanistan, which would strengthen the USA's geostrategic power in the region
• The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan began

  25 December 1979
• Soviet paratroopers and KGB agents attacked the presidential palace and killed Amin and his advisors

  27 December 1979
• The Soviets selected Babrak Karmal to head the Afghan government, and by the end of the month there were 85,000 Red Army troops in the country


  January 1980
• The Soviet forces suffered at least 50,000 casualties (15,000 dead) in a brutal war with the Mujahideen that lasted until February 1989
• The propaganda for socialism stopped working as the body bags mounted up, this was the Soviet's Vietnam
• The invasion damaged relations with neutral countries and led to international protest from Pakistan, Iran and Western powers
• The 1980 Moscow Olympics were boycotted by the US, and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics were boycotted by the USSR
• Grain and technology were held back from the Soviet Union by the US
• SALT II negotiations were stopped
• The invasion failed even though Soviet forces were equipped with modern weapons
• The cost of the war added to the Soviet Union's economic problems
• The consequences of the Afghan war included 876,000 dead, 1.2 million disabled, 3 million maimed or wounded, and 5 million refugees
• Carter's response


  Ended diplomatic relations with the USSR, suspended SALT II, announced an alliance with China and Israel to support the Afghan rebels, provided weapons and funds for the Mujahideen, and imposed economic sanctions on the Soviet Union
• Carter Doctrine articulated a fundamental shift in Soviet-American relations, returning to a more confrontational policy

  23 January 1980
• The Soviets saw the Carter Doctrine as a massive overreaction, as their intervention in Afghanistan had not threatened America's vital interests in the Persian Gulf