Final Examination

Directions: Do one of the following essay questions and provide the analysis and evidence as required.

1. How did both the Kennedy administration and N. S. Khrushchev respond to Castro and Castro’s Cuba? What course of action did both follow following the Bay of Pigs fiasco and continued American efforts to topple Castro? Why was Khrushchev willing to risk everything on supporting Castro? What was Castro's reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis?

2. If the United States was going to compete with the Soviet Union in Africa and the Third World, what changes did the U.S. have to make in order to compete with Russians and Chinese in that region of the world? Explain.

3. How does myth and memory influence the effort to peace in Northern Ireland for both those of Ulster and Irish Republic? What is the real dividing point between the factions in Northern Ireland? Does religion alone play the most predominant part in the division of the Irish polity? explain.

4. What was the Red Army Faction? Where did they come from and how did they seek to force political and social change in the Federal Republic of Germany? What was their eventual fate? Was there anything similar to the RAF in the United States? Explain.

5. When M. S. Gorbachev came to power he attempted to create a climate for economic and political change in the Soviet Union. What was his rationale? Why did he fail? Did the Soviet-Afghan War contribute to the demise of the Soviet Union?

6. Who won the Cold War? What did the end of the Cold War bring to the world community?

7. What accounts for the spread of Islamic fundamentalism? How did the changing cultural and political situation after the fall of the Soviet Union create the climate for bin Laden and al-Qaeda?

8. One of the major tenets for the Second Gulf War was the fear of Saddam's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Was there a link between the tragedy of 9/11 and the Iraqi dictator? What impact has the conflict had in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States? What was the rationale of the neocons who pushed for the war? Was this a departure for the United States following World War II?

9. What factors account to the rise of Islamic terrorism since the 1990s?

10. Why did the Americans fail to pick up the warnings of an impending attack on the United States in the fall of 2001? Was the attack ordained? Could it have been avoided?

11. Why did Saddam attack Kuwait? Was Saddam a real threat to Saudi Arabia? What was the impact did the introduction of American forces have on the region? What mistakes did George H. W. Bush make in prosecuting the war effort? What was the legacy of the First Gulf War?