People
Mikhail Gorbachev

Lech Walesa

George Soros

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

Nelson Mandela




A World Transformed: The Democratic Wave, 1985-95
History 300 / November 5, 2013

I. The collapse of the “Second World”
            A. Gorbachev and Reagan phase down the Cold War
                        1. The Reykjavik summit (Oct. 1986): zero option?
                        2. The INF Treaty (Dec. 1987)
            B. The revolutions of 1989
                        1. Poland and the “round table”
                        2. Hungary opens the Iron Curtain
                        3. The fall of the Berlin Wall
                        4. Popular revolution in Czechoslovakia
            C. The geopolitical hinge, 1990
                        1. Conventional arms reductions (CFE, Nov. 1990)
                        2. German unification within existing structures
                                    > Membership in NATO
                                    > Membership in the EU
            D. The Soviet Union implodes, 1991
                        1. Nationalist rumblings in the Caucasus
                        2. Lithuania’s declaration of independence
                        3. The August coup – and Russia’s re-emergence
                        4. Saving face: the CIS
            E. Structures of post-communist transition
                        1. IGOs: IMF, World Bank, OECD, EU…
                        2. NGOs: Soros Foundation
II. The UN and democratic transformation in the Third World
            A. Getting the Security Council back on track
                        1. Pérez de Cuéllar as Secretary-General
                        2. Cease-fire between Iran and Iraq (Aug. 1988)
            B. Post-colonial settlements
                        1. Angola (Cuban withdrawal from 1989)
                        2. Namibia (independent in March 1990)
            C. Observing (and organizing) democratic elections
                        1. Nicaragua
                        2. El Salvador (ONUSAL, 1991-95)
                        3. Cambodia (UNTAC, 1992-93)
            D. The biggest prize: the end of apartheid
                        1. Mandela released (Feb. 1990); the ANC legalized
                        2. Free elections (April 1994)
                        3. “Truth and reconciliation” commissions