Period 6: Globalization

Question 1

What was the Persian Gulf War?

Answer 1

• Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 under the leadership of Saddam Hussein because Iraq wanted to gain control of more oil reserves
• the UN (particularly the US) sent forces to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait in 1991
• liberated Kuwait and humiliated Iraq
• Iraq was subjected to UN monitoring, limitations on military activities, and economic sanctions

Question 2

Who was Nur Muhammad Taraki?

Answer 2

• Marxist military leader of Afghanistan
• engineered a military coup against the previous Afghan government
• requested for the USSR to send troops to Afghanistan during the early 1980s

Question 3

What happened as a result of the entering of Soviet troops to Afghanistan?

Answer 3

• many Afghans opposed communism and Soviet intervention, leading to a massive civil war
• resistors had Western weapons and launched guerilla attacks against the Soviets
• Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to withdraw Soviet troops when internal problems escalated in the USSR and a peace accord was signed

Question 4

Who are the Taliban?

Answer 4

• an Islamic fundamentalist regime
• captured Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul in 1996
• imposed strict Islamic law and severe restrictions on women
• provided safe haven for Osama bin Laden

Question 5

Who was Osama bin Laden?

Answer 5

• the Saudi leader of an international terrorist network known as Al Qaeda
• died in 2011

Question 6

Why does Al Qaeda dislike Saudi Arabia?

Answer 6

• ruling family was too cozy with the US
• allowed US troops to remain in the country since the Persian Gulf War, leading to the presence of infidels in a kingdom home to Islam’s most holy sites

Question 7

Why does Al Qaeda despise the US?

Answer 7

• the US supports Israel and Al Qaeda wants Israel removed from the planet
• the US has troops stationed in Saudi Arabia
• the US is the primary agent of globalization which Al Qaeda believes is infecting Islamic culture

Question 8

What is the War on Terror?

Answer 8

• the US targeted Al Qaeda and the Taliban after 9/11
• the Taliban was removed from power within months
• US and UN forces occupied Afghanistan
• Al Qaeda still survives though its leadership is being attacked