Monthly Archives: September 2018

Italians were disappointed at Italy's gains from the Versailles settlement; they felt cheated in view of their great efforts and loss during the war.

The series of anti-government protests and demonstrations known as the Arab Spring. It began in Tunisia in December 2010. In less than a month, Ben Ali , president for 23 years, was forced to give up power.

Iran already had nuclear technology before the 1979 revolution when the Shah was overthrown. Shah insisted that the nuclear program was for entirely peaceful purposes and Iran signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The situation in Afghanistan had been extremely violent until 1978 when a left-wing govt seized power and began a modernization program. However, in a country where Islamic authority was strong, modernization was seen as an affront to Islam.

Since US was so powerful both militarily and economically, it was difficult for small countries to challenge the USA in conventional ways. To the extremists, it seemed that terrorism was the only way to strike at USA and its allies.

When communism collapsed in eastern Europe and the USSR broke up in 1991, the Cold War came to an end. The USA was left as the world's only superpower.