- A Unipolar World
- Ukraine-Russia
- Israel and the Middle East
- Iran and Saudi Arabia
- Korea
- Afghanistan
- Nuclear Weapons
- China and the US
A Unipolar World
The Impact of the “Unipolar Moment” on US Foreign Policies in the Mid-East
- This is a theory, some argue that the USA has not enjoyed a unipolar moment. The article above explains that although it enjoyed immense power, it faced limits to it. Events such as 9/11 and its failure to defeat the ‘insurrection’ in Iraq showed its weakness.
- Yet there is evidence to prove that the USA is dominant and we are still living in a unipolar world.
- Organisations such as the United Nations and NATO are dominated by the USA.
- The US dominates the world’s economy and financial institutions. Their currency is still the most powerful too.
- The US’ global political influence is unrivalled. China may have huge influence in Asia but not too much in the rest of the world.
- The US military is the most powerful in the world – see below.
Infographic: US military presence around the world
Ukraine-Russia
- One of the arguments for why the war started between Russia and Ukraine is because of the expansion of NATO and the European Union. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and was set up in 1949. Its purpose was to use military force to repel any Soviet aggression, famously using Article 5:
“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
- In 1949, the NATO membership was,
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States were the original members
- By 1991 membership had increased, largely because of the Cold War.
During the Cold War, Greece and Turkey joined in 1952, West Germany joined in 1955 (which became unified Germany in 1990), and Spain joined in 1982. So, by the end of 1991, NATO consisted of these 16 countries.
- Although the Soviet Union dissolved and the Cold War ended, NATO continued to grow.
1999: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic
2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia
2009: Albania, Croatia
2017: Montenegro
2020: North Macedonia
2023: Finland (joined in April 2023)
- The Russia-Ukraine War began in 2022. The leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, lists NATO expansion as one of the key reasons for war. You only have to see the different maps to see that NATO was moving closer to Russia’s border.
- In the 1990s there were talks about disbanding NATO or at least, limiting its growth. Watch the following interview and try to answer the following questions:
a. Why did US ‘realists’ not want to expand NATO? 0:35 – 01:28
b. But the liberals And President Clinton disagreed, what was their argument? 0:36 to 02:00
c. Why did the trouble start in 2008? 02:30 to 03:30
In 2014, Russia took Crimea from Ukraine and a war began in the east of the country. There was also a revolution in Ukraine, with a pro-EU and NATO prime minister (Petro Poroshenko) taking power.
d. What does Mersheimer say about the causes of this war? 04:40 to 05:30
- A possible Russian view against NATO expansion is that the invasions come from northern Europe. This is explained in the IBDP History section on the Soviet Psyche.
- For more information, read Russia and the Curse of Geography.
Israel and the Middle East
- The Arab-Israeli conflict was a proxy battleground during the Cold War, with the US supporting Israel and the Soviet Union backing different Arab states. Arguably, these countries would have been rivals even without the Cold War but it may have made things worse.
- Cold War alliances influenced major wars like the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973), shaping current geopolitical divides and security dynamics in the Middle East. The Soviet Union supported Egypt and Syria during the Six-Day War and the former during the latter war, the US supported Israel on both occasions.
- The Six-Day War remains controversial today because it led to Israel taking control of large parts of Jerusalem, the Sinai Desert and the Golan Heights. See below
- The Golan Heights (a mountain range) allows Israel to dominate the high ground, a strategic advantage over a possible rival.
Six Day War: Six ways the conflict still matters
Iran and Saudi Arabia
- During the Cold War, Saudi Arabia was supported by the US. Its huge oil reserves and dominance among the Sunni nations in the Middle East meant that the US could influence the region via Saudi.
- On the other hand, Iran after 1979 was a Shia-led theocracy and was influenced by the Soviet Union.
- The two nations, Saudi and Iran have been bitter rivals for decades. They have influence over the entire Middle East and North Africa.
Saudi Arabia’s Answer to the Iran Deal
- Even today, albeit much reduced, both the US and Russia have some influence over the same two nations.
Korea
Afghanistan
Nuclear Weapons
A key legacy from the Cold War is the threat from nuclear weapons. This may have dissipated (disappeared) since 1991 but the number of countries which have acquired them increased.
| Pre-1991 | Post-1991 |
| United States Soviet Union United Kingdom France China Israel (unofficially) | India Pakistan North Korea |
Countries with Most Nuclear Weapons in 2025
- 1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis has been the closest the world has come to nuclear war. The ‘Doomsday Clock’ is a measurement of this possibility.
BUT the peace dividend and nuclear deterrence…
What Happened to the Peace Dividend?
The Peace Dividend
- In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Cold War was no more. For decades, the threat of a third world war or even nuclear war was real. With the fall of the Soviet Union, this threat was significantly reduced. This had a huge impact, one that is still present today, on the defence spending around the world.
- For an estimate on these differences, I asked Perplexity.ai to provide me with a table.
- The sources used have both their values and limitations but this helps give you a general idea of the differences.
- The reduced spending on defence (army, navy, air force, nuclear etc.) is called the peace dividend.
- Governments decided to spend these savings on other things, notably welfare and social systems.
- Some also cut taxes as they did not need as much money. This would prove very popular with voters in democracies.
China and the US