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Period: to
1970s- now
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Nixon flys to Beijing
Nixon and Kissinger flew to Beijing and successfully improved relations between the communist China and the United States, even allowing China to become a member of the United Nations. -
SALT
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. It restricted use and testing of nuclear weapons. -
Camp David Accords
A peace treaty between Egypt and Israel that
President Jimmy Carter mediated. It was the biggest success of his term. -
Cambodian Incursion
Nixon decided to drop bombs on neutral Cambodia in order to prevent North Vietnam from attacking South Vietnam through Cambodia. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
Islamic militants seized the American embassy and took everyone inside hostage. This crisis is one reason Jimmy Carter lost reelection. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Reagan officials illegally funnelled funds to Cotra rebels in Nicaragua by secretly selling weapons to Iran -
The Persian Gulf War
Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered an invasion of Kuwait. Neihboring countries liks Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the U.S. to help the small country, and when Hussein refused to withdraw from Kuwait, the U.S. launched Operation Desert Storm, an airstrike. By the end of February, most Iraqi troops had fled or surrendered. -
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement was a deal between Canada, Mexico, and the United States to reduce and eventually eliminate trade barriers. -
War in Afghanistan starts
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush demanded that Osama bin Laden be identified, the Taliban dismantled, and al Queda broken up. The United Nations and NATO backed the U.S. -
Iraq War 2003-2011
George Bush and his administration started a war in Iraq, initially with an invasion of Iraq in 2003, because of the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and the belief that Hussein's government posed an immediate threat to the U.S.
