The End of History and “The Unipolar Moment”:

Making Sense of the post-Cold War Era

• Did liberalism triumph in 1989, or does history continue?
• What is the “Unipolar Moment”? Does it really exist? If so, is it ending?

Key Terms

1) “End of History Thesis”

2) “Clash of Civilizations”

3) “Unipolar Moment”

4) First Gulf War

5) NATO Expansion

I. The End of History or New World Disorder?

• Francis Fukuyama’s Thesis: The Triumph of Liberal Democracy & Capitalism
  
  
• The End of the Cold War “Rules” and New World Disorders
  
  
• History Continues:

o Ethno-Nationalism and Genocide (Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Darfur)

o Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, and Failed States

o Poverty, Population, Resources, and the Global Environment

o Tribalism vs. Globalization (Jihad vs. McWorld by Ben Barber)

o “Clash of Civilizations” (Samuel Huntington)

o Liberal Democracy vs. Authoritarianism

II. The United States in (or on top of) the World since 1990

• The “Unipolar Moment” (Charles Krauthammer)

• Lonely Superpower or “Hyperpower?”
  
  
• Self-Appointed World Policeman

Major US Military Interventions since 1989

• Panama (1989)
• Kuwait/Iraq (1990-1991)
• Somalia (1992-1993)
• Haiti (1994)
• Bosnia [Yugoslavia] (1996)
• Kosovo (1998)
• Afghanistan (2001-2009)
• Iraq (2003-2009)
• NATO Expansion (1990s)

• The “Myth” of Multilateralism: The First Gulf War (1990-1991) and its Consequences

• The Achilles Heal? The American Economy (Debt)
  
  
• The Limits of (Hard) American Power: Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea
  
  
• The Passing of the Unipolar Moment?