SYJC – CHAPTER 1

THE
WORLD
SINCE
1991
 CHP 1 – The World Since 1991
• Understand the developments
in international relations in the
post-cold war era.

• Understand the growing

importance of humanitarian
issues, problems of terrorism &
the rise of multipolarity &
regionalism
 INTRODUCTION

• In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and after that the process of
Disintegration of Soviet Union started. Eventually, in 1991, Cold War ended
with the disintegration of Soviet Union. It also ended the East- West
division of the world that was based on the rivalry of the United States and
the Soviet Union.
• The developments in the post-cold war period can be analyzed through
five major consequences :
3
 1-End of Cold War and the Rise of New States
2-Emergence of Unipolarity
3-Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
4-Terrorism
5-Multipolarity and Regionalism

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 A Superpower
• A superpower is a state with a
leading position in international
politics. It has the ability to
influence global events and fulfill
its own interests.
• After the Second World War,
the United States and the Soviet
Union were the two superpowers
who confronted each other
during the Cold War.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• The end of Cold War led to the
end of an international order
dominated by the two
superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union.
• It also saw the emergence of
new states after the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• We can see two important trends in international
relations since the East European revolution of
1989.
• The first is the assertion of the concept of ethnic
nationalism based on right to self-determination
& the second is the end of bipolarity.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• Bipolarity existed because of the existence of the
two superpowers, United States and the Soviet
Union. The world was divided into two centers of
power. The disintegration of the Soviet Union
ended one of the centers of power. Therefore, the
disintegration of the Soviet Union meant the end of
bipolarity in the world.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• The revolution of the East European states was a
revolution of growing aspirations of the middle
class. They desired more freedom and economic
well-being.
• They rose against the communist governments
that were controlled by the Soviet Union and
emerged as free democratic states.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• Even within the Soviet Union the movement for more
political and economic freedom led to the various
states demanding more autonomy and eventually
independence.
• Meanwhile, the ethnic identity of the various people
of the region became stronger. This led to the
demand for the creation of independent states based
on ethnic identity.
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• Some trends of ethnic nationalism - examples

• In Europe the pattern of creation of new states can be seen as

follows: -

• Czechoslovakia split into two states, Czech Republic and Slav

Republic.

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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• Yugoslavia split into Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina,
North Macedonia, Montenegro

• In case of the former Soviet Union the new states were as follows: -

• Armenia, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Azerbaijan,

Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan and Russia. (15 States)

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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• The trend of creation of new states on the basis of ethnic
nationalism based on right to self-determination was also seen in
other parts of the world. Some of the new countries that emerged
as independent states were: -
• 1) East Timor (independent from Indonesia),
• 2)Eretria (independent from Ethiopia),
• 3) South Sudan (independent from Sudan).
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 End of Cold War and Rise of New
States
• This trend of demand for independence on the basis of ethnic
nationalism is also seen in the following cases: -

• 1) Catalonia (wants independence from Spain)

• 2) Kosovo (wants independence from Serbia) Its independence has

been recognised by some countries of Europe) - Chechnya wants
independence from Russia)
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 Emergence of Unipolarity
• The Cold War between United
States and the Soviet Union
came to end signaling the end
of bipolarity.

• This led to the emergence of a

unipolar world order dominated
by the United States.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• In 1990, Iraq went in for a war against

Kuwait and established control over its
territory. There was a global reaction
against it and the matter was discussed in
the United Nations.
• The United States took the initiative and
led a multinational force against Iraq.
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 Towards a Unipolar World
• The war ended with Kuwait becoming
free from Iraqi control. The then
American President George H. Bush
considered this as a moral victory and
used the term ‘New World Order’ to
describe the nature of the global
situation.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• This American action had received global

support, including from the Soviet Union,
China, countries of the NATO, Israel, and
the Arab States including Saudi Arabia.
• The Soviet Union which was facing
internal problems disintegrated in 1991.

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 Towards a Unipolar World
• There wasn’t much ideological opposition
against the United States and eventually the
meaning of the term ‘New World Order’
which implied American dominance and
leadership in matters of security was
accepted at the global level.
• This was the first expression of the unipolar
world order.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• American political commentator Francis

Fukuyama introduced the concept of ‘End of
History’.
• He believed that after the fall of communism in
Soviet Union the socialist political, economic and
social system had come to its end and that the
world would now have liberal democratic
systems.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• The United States emerged as a dominant country. American

dominance had political and economic dimensions.
• Politically, the American model of liberal-democratic
governance was readily accepted and adopted by several
post-communist states of Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

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 Towards a Unipolar World
• The concept of good governance was linked to democracy. In
economic sphere, socialist system of economy was given up by most
of the countries. One of the other aspects about American
domination was the use of American ‘soft power’.

• Soft power is when you influence the other countries without the
use of military force. The influence is spread through economic,
social, cultural and other similar means.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• Liberal democracy is a form of

representative democracy. Liberal
democracy is currently one of the
dominant political ideologies in the
world. It gives importance to
individual liberty
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 Towards a Unipolar World
• A liberal democracy is characterized by
presence of a few important features:
• Universal suffrage
• Free and fair elections
• Competitive party politics
• Rule of law
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 Towards a Unipolar World

• American academician Joseph Nye

differentiates between two types of powers,
namely hard power and soft power.

• Hard power is ‘the ability to get others to act

in ways that are contrary to their
preferences and wills’.
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 Towards a Unipolar World
• This is the ability to coerce, through
threats and inducements.

• On the contrary, soft power is the ability

to get ‘others to want the outcomes that
you want’, and more particularly ‘the
ability to achieve goals through attraction
rather than coercion’.
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 Towards a Unipolar World
• Some Examples of American Soft Power
1) Educational exchange programs :
The United States is known as a
student friendly nation. In last few years,
number of international students studying
in the United States has increased
substantially.
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 Towards a Unipolar World

2) Internet : Propagation of democracy and

freedom of speech through internet has
been a soft power of United States.
3) Food chains : Food chains in the United
States have a global recognition. Few
examples are McDonald's, Subway, Pizza
Hut, Burger King, etc
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 Human Rights and Humanitarian
Intervention
• There was an
increasing awareness
about human rights and
also a rise in
intervention for
humanitarian purposes.
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 Terrorism

• The nature of terrorism

changed after the 11
September 2001 attacks
(also known as 9/11
attacks) against the
United States.
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 Terrorism

• The attack on the New York Trade

Centre and the Pentagon in
Washington D.C. on 11 September
2001 (popularly referred to as 9/11
attack) brought in a new form of
terrorism in the world.
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 Terrorism
• The concept of terrorism is not new. Terrorism
has been defined as the use of violence or the
threat to use violence with an intention to
create panic in the society and pursue
political, religious or ideological goals.
• Generally, government institutions and
officials are primary targets.

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 Terrorism

• The first instance of modern-day terrorism is

considered to be the attack on the Israeli
Olympic team at Munich in 1972 by the
Palestinians.
• Since then, terrorist organisations and groups
have indulged in airplane hijackings, bombings
and assassinations of political leaders.
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 Terrorism
• Traditional forms of terrorism mainly
targeted institutions of the state. The
terrorists usually fought for the rights of
some specific people.
• The terrorist activity was usually associated
with separatist movements.

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 Terrorism
• Modern day terrorism is different in several
ways. The terrorists today are not fighting for
a specific group in a specific geographic area.
• The terrorist organisations are motivated and
inflamed by an abstract religious ideology, the
fight is for abstract goals and the operations
are global in nature.
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 Terrorism

• After the 9/11 attacks, similar

attacks took place in Bali (2002),
Madrid (2004), London (2005)
and Mumbai (2008).

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 Terrorism

• The ‘War on Terror’ is a

military campaign launched
by the American President
George W. Bush in
response to the 9/11
terrorist attacks by AL
Qaeda.

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 Terrorism

• The War on Terror includes the

Afghanistan War (2001) and the
War in Iraq (2003).
• The US-led military offensive was
supported by Britain, Turkey,
Germany, Italy, Netherlands,
France and Poland.
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 Multipolarity and Regionalism

• This phase primarily saw the rise of China and

India, the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific
region and also the rise of Russia under Vladimir
Putin.

• These developments and the growth of

regionalism brought in multipolarity in the world
order. Regions and regional organizations started
to become more important. 40
 Multipolarity

• The world order was dominated by the United States in the post-cold war era. The
American military and economic might was unchallenged during this time. This
made it the only superpower.

• However, economic rise and military capabilities are not the only criteria to become
and remain a superpower. It is the amalgamation of both hard power and soft
power that shapes a country to become a world power.

• While hard power relies on coercion, military force and economic sanctions, soft
power includes social, economic, cultural influence, values and tradition. 41
 Multipolarity

• In recent times, the

dominant position of the
United States has been
directly or indirectly
challenged.

42
 Multipolarity
For instance,
• i) the economic and regional
integration in Europe through the
creation of European Union (EU);
• ii) The rise of Asia through the
presence of China and Japan
followed by India in the global world
order;
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 Multipolarity

• iii) The military resurgence of

Russia and
• iv) The growing importance of
new regional organisations have
come to define a shift from a
unipolar to a multipolar world
order.
44
 Multipolarity

• China has posed a formidable challenge to the

unipolar world led by the United States.
• China’s rise to global prominence can be
attributed to its rapid economic progress since
the introduction of economics reforms in the
mid-1970s under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership.
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 Multipolarity
The most dramatic phase of which began only in the 1990s. China
has increased its sphere of influence through its ambitious
economic projects such as One Belt One Road and China Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) and aims to create a sphere of
influence in Central and East Asian regions.
Furthermore, Chinese opening to Africa shows that their dream
goes beyond neighbouring countries. Militarily, China is
ambitiously building up its naval and air power in order to back up
its claims in the South China Sea 46
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 Multipolarity
• Russia has made substantial progress in oil and gas production.
Russia has emerged as an energy superpower. Economic stability
has renewed the sense of national pride leading to military
assertiveness in recent times.
• Russia continues to influence Central and Eastern Europe and it
is a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO).
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 Multipolarity

• Today the Indo-Pacific region is gaining importance. Economic

growth in Asia, led by China and other countries like India and
Japan; conflicts in the South China Sea; the importance of
ASEAN and American interest in the Pacific region has
contributed to the importance of this region. India is likely to play
an important role in this region in the future.
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Regionalism in the Post-Cold War Era

• Regionalism is an important issue in international relations. Countries

come together to either create or join some regional organisations.
These organisations may be based on geographic proximity or on
common political, ideological, economic etc. concerns.
• While geographic linkages are important, sometimes some
functional and infrastructural issues become the basis of regional
cooperation.
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 Regionalism in the Post-Cold War
Era
• These can be in areas like transport and communication, energy,
health, etc. The process of regionalism usually begins with a political
dialogue amongst the participants.
• Similar ideological perspectives or economic concerns may help the
process of dialogue. Such a dialogue may lead to the creation of an
organisation.

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 Regionalism in the Post-Cold War
Era
• In the 1940s and 1950s regionalism in Asia and Africa focused on a
political dialogue between countries. In Europe the focus was on
economic cooperation.
• For example, Europe created the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC, 1951), the European Economic Community (EEC,
1957) and the European Atomic Energy Agency (Euratom, 1958).

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 Regionalism in the Post-Cold War
Era
• In 1960s the concept of regional cooperation spread to Asia and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was created in
1967. In the 1960s we saw the growth of regional organisations that
focused on economic issues.
• Some regional organisations like the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO) focused on security issues. In the post-cold
war era, the regional organisations started to focus on issues of
trade. We see the creation of Trade Blocs during this period.
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 Regionalism in the Post-Cold War
Era
• A trade bloc is created
when a group of nations
make special
agreements regarding
their economic
relationships with each
other. 53
 Regionalism in the Post-Cold War Era
• The agreements generally
focus on the relaxation or
elimination of trade barriers.
• The most common types of
trade barriers are tariffs
(taxes on imports) and quotas
(limits on the quantities of
various imports).
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 European Union
• The Second World War followed by the Cold
War gave rise to a constant instability which
has always motivated the European
countries to come together.
• It is on this basis that European Union was
established. The European Union began as
an organisation which wanted to foster
economic cooperation.
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 European Union

• The idea being that countries that trade with

one another become economically
interdependent and so more likely to avoid
conflict. The European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) and European Economic
Community (EEC) were created for this
purpose in 1951 and 1957 respectively.
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 European Union
• Later these various organisations merged
together and were referred to as the European
Community. In 1973 an agreement was signed
to create a European Parliament. The process
of creating a single market for the European
Union began in the 1980s and was completed
in 1993. The ‘Maastricht’ Treaty was signed on
7th February 1992 to create the European
Union (EU). 57
 European Union
• This treaty led to the expansion of spheres of
cooperation which now included internal
affairs, judicial matters, foreign and defence
policies.
• The treaty led to the creation of an economic
union which had a common currency, the Euro.
The euro (€) is the official currency of 19 out of
28 countries of the EU. These countries are
collectively known as the Eurozone.
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 European Union

• The process of European cooperation

began as a purely economic union and
evolved into an organisation dealing with
various policy areas like climate change,
environment, health, external relations and
security, and migration.

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 European Union

• The Euro was launched in the world money market

on 1st January 1999; it became the unit of exchange
for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom,
Sweden, and Denmark.
• The geographic and economic region that consists
of all the EU countries that have fully incorporated
the Euro as their national currency is known as the
Eurozone. 60
 European Union

• The creation of the Schengen Area is one of the greatest

achievements of the EU. The Schengen Agreement – covering the
abolishment of the internal borders between countries was signed in
1985.
• The Agreement was signed by the five European countries France,
Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Netherlands, in Schengen, a
small village in Southern Luxemburg. The Schengen visa is the most
common visa for Europe.
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 European Union

• The Schengen Area is an area without internal borders. In this area,

nationals of EU and even non-EU nationals including businesspeople
and tourists can travel from country to country freely and easily. They
do not have to go through checks and controls when they pass from
one country to another.
• Today 22 out of the 28 countries of the European Union are part of the
Schengen Area.
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 European Union
• A Schengen visa allows eligible
individuals to travel freely within
the 26 participating Schengen
Area countries.

• This means travelers in Europe

will not be subject to border
checks at internal Schengen
borders and enter various
Schengen countries directly.
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 European Union

How does the EU work?

• There are four key
institutions which work
together to run the EU - the
European Commission, the
European Parliament, the
European Council and the
European Court of Justice
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 European Union
The European Commission :
• The Commission is the
executive bureaucratic arm of
the EU.
• It is mainly responsible for
drawing up proposals for new
European legislation, and it
implements the policy decisions
of the European Parliament and
the Council of the EU
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 European Union

The European Parliament :

• The European Parliament is
composed of 751 Members,
who are directly elected
every five years. It is a body
entrusted with legislative,
supervisory, and budgetary
responsibilities

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 European Union
The European Council :

• The structure of the European

Council consists of the presidents or
prime ministers of each member
state, accompanied by their foreign
ministers, and a full-time President
of the European Council. The
European Council meets four times a
year and provides strategic
leadership for the EU.
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 European Union

The European Court of Justice :

• The ECJ interprets, and

adjudicates on, EU law and
treaties. As EU law has
primacy over the national law
of EU member states.

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 SAARC
• SAARC was formed in 1985 at Dhaka.
Originally, SAARC had seven members,
namely India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. In 2007,
Afghanistan was added as the eighth
member.
• Meanwhile, China, USA, EU along with 9
other nations have been conferred with the
'observer status’.
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 SAARC

• The main aim of SAARC was to establish a dialogue

in South Asia. With this context, South Asian
Association for Preferential Trade Arrangement
(SAPTA) came into existence in 1993.
• Later in 2006, SAARC's free trade arrangement was
activated through South Asian Association Free
Trade Area (SAFTA) which replaced the earlier
regime of SAPTA
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 BIMSTEC

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation founded
in 1997.
• It comprises of seven Member States lying in
the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of
Bengal.
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 BIMSTEC
• Among them, five are from South Asia, including
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and
two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar
and Thailand.
• BIMSTEC acts as a bridge between South and
South East Asia and mainly aims to facilitate
rapid economic development and promote
collaboration on matters of common interests.
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 BRICS
• BRICS is an association of major emerging
national economies created in 2009. Its
original members were Brazil, Russia, India
and China. South Africa joined in 2010. BRICS
members are all developing countries or
newly industrialized countries.
• They have large, fast-growing economies
and significant influence on regional and
global affairs. All of them are members of
G20.
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 S.C.O. (Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation)
• SCO is a political, economic and security
organisation, which was founded in Shanghai
by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the
year 2001.
• India and Pakistan joined in 2016. In the past
few years SCO has focused on counter
terrorism.
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 S.C.O. (Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation)
• The SCO's primary focus is on maintaining
peace and stability in the region through
political dialogue and economic cooperation
among member states.
• SCO also encourages effective cooperation
in trade, research and technology.

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 G - 20

• G-20 is an international forum established in 1999 for

governments and central bank governors from 19
countries and the European Union. It was formed
with a primary aim to discuss policies relating to
financial stability.
• Since 2008, the G-20 Summits are attended by the
heads of the government or head of the states along
with their finance ministers and foreign ministers.
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 G - 20

• Developed countries like United States,

Britain, Germany, France, Japan among
others are a part of G-20.
• It thus, acts as a platform for discussion
between the developed and developing
countries. India plays an active part in G-20.
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 In Conclusion,
• We have seen some of the important
trends in global politics since 1991. These
trends indicate the major changes that
have taken place in the world since the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.

• In the next chapter we will see how

these trends can be understood at a
conceptual level.
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