Baylis, Smith and Owens: The Globalization of World Politics International 6e

Revision guide
Chapter 4: From the end of the cold war to a new global era?

 There was not one cause of the cold war, but several.

 According to many scholars, the cold war bipolar system was stable.

 The cold war ended for many reasons, but few predicted it, and it may not have

ended without Mikhail Gorbachev.

 The end of the cold war, followed by the collapse of the USSR, dramatically

increased the USA’s weight in the international system.

 By 2000, the popular view was that the USA was more ‘hyperpower’ than

‘superpower’.

 Under Clinton there was a great focus on economic issues and using America’s

economic power to reinforce its position in the international system.

 The USA may have failed to intervene in Rwanda, but it continued to play an active

role in international affairs during the 1990s.

 The problems facing post-communist Russia were enormous.

 Economic reforms in the 1990s created a new class of super-rich Russians but

exacerbated Russia’s overall economic decline.

 Vladimir Putin has attempted to reverse what he saw as Russia’s decline in the

1990s.

 It is misleading to talk of a ‘new cold war’ between the West and Russia.

 In spite of the break-up of former Yugoslavia, Europe benefited as much from the

end of the cold war as the USA.

 Europeans after the cold war were divided over a series of key issues, most notably

the degree of European integration, economic strategy, and the foreign policy

© Oxford University Press, 2014.

 Baylis, Smith and Owens: The Globalization of World Politics International 6e
Revision guide
aspirations of the European Union.

 Europe may not possess much collective military power, but it does retain important

soft power, while remaining a major economic actor in the world.

 The costs of the economic crisis have been significant but the consensus remains

that a functioning EU is more likely to deliver peace and prosperity than any

alternative arrangement.

 Compared to Europe after 1945, the international relations of East Asia during the

cold war were highly volatile, marked by revolutions, wars, and insurgencies.

 The end of the cold war was experienced very differently in Asia.

 Economic growth, the USA’s presence, and the role played by ASEAN continue to

make the region more stable than some predicted.

 China’s economic rise has brought prosperity to the region but increased tensions

too, confirming—at least according to some realists—that when the balance of

power changes, instability follows.

 The end of the Third World was marked by major economic reform in many

countries, accompanied by their rejoining the world market.

 The less-developed countries continue to be burdened by debt and debt

repayments to the more advanced economies of the world.

 Though socialist anti-imperialism is no longer a powerful political ideology in the

South, resentments against the more powerful West remain.

 9/11 effectively brought the post-cold war era to an end, and in the process

transformed US foreign policy.

 The reasons for going to war in Iraq have been much disputed, although most

people now believe it was a strategic error.

© Oxford University Press, 2014.

 Baylis, Smith and Owens: The Globalization of World Politics International 6e
Revision guide
 The Arab Spring since 2011 has seen the emergence of powerful political parties

and organizations favouring constitutions inspired by Islam.

 Barack Obama was elected in 2008 in the midst of the deepest financial crisis since

the 1930s.

 His foreign policy aimed among other things to restore US standing in the world

while finally bringing US troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 Obama’s re-election in 2012 was in part due to his economic policies at home and

in part due to his perceived success in foreign policy.

 Obama rejects the idea that the United States is in decline, but accepts that the US

has to adjust its policies to take account of new economic realities—most notably in

Asia.

© Oxford University Press, 2014.