International Relations and Diplomacy Lesson: Key Events

Lesson Overview

• Former Yugoslavia and Its Republics
• Why the U.S. Entered World War I (1917)
• The 1994 Rwandan Genocide
• Palestinian Refugees and Jordan
• Ecuador and Peru: Settling a Border Dispute
• Cold War Alliances: NATO and the Warsaw Pact
• Nixon's Visit to China (1972)
• The Six-Day War and the Golan Heights
• Al-Qaeda's Grievance Against the U.S.
• The 1947 Partition of India and Its Legacy

International relations might seem like a list of names, dates, and places, but every fact has a deeper story of why it happened and how it shaped the world. 

Let's explore some of the key topics of international relations, addressing common misunderstandings and the "why" behind each.

Former Yugoslavia and Its Republics

Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe that eventually broke apart in the 1990s. Originally (after World War II) it was a federation of six republics: Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia (now North Macedonia). 

Within Serbia were two autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina). Yugoslavia shrank from six republics down to two before dissolving completely.

Why the U.S. Entered World War I (1917)

The United States declared war on Germany in 1917 after staying neutral for years because German unrestricted submarine warfare threatened American ships and trade. In early 1917, Germany resumed sinking ships without warning, endangering American lives and economic interests. Another trigger was the Zimmerman Telegram – a secret message in which Germany urged Mexico to ally against the U.S. (this inflamed American public opinion when it became known). 

These actions made it clear that U.S. neutrality wasn't safe anymore. Notably, the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 was not the main cause. That event (the loss of American lives on a torpedoed ocean liner) angered the U.S., but it happened two years before America entered the war. By 1917, it was the new threats – especially the submarine attacks on American commerce – that pushed the U.S. to join WWI.

The 1994 Rwandan Genocide

A horrific genocide occurred in 1994 in the small African country of Rwanda. In about 100 days, extremist members of the Hutu majority killed around 800,000 people of the Tutsi minority (along with some Hutus who opposed the violence). It happened in Rwanda, and it was Hutus killing Tutsis, not vice versa. This ethnic massacre was fueled by long-standing tensions between the two groups, inflamed by years of divisive politics (during Belgian colonial rule, Tutsis were favored, breeding resentment among Hutus). 

When a Hutu president was assassinated in April 1994, Hutu militias launched a mass slaughter, even using radio broadcasts to incite people to violence.

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Palestinian Refugees and Jordan

Jordan is the country that hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees.After the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. Many went to the West Bank (then controlled by Jordan) or into Jordan itself. Jordan granted citizenship to many of these refugees. 

Another wave came in 1967 when more Palestinians fled after the Six-Day War. Because of these events, today about 2 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan – more than in any other country. By contrast, Lebanon and Syria also host Palestinian refugees, but in far smaller numbers. Due to the wars of 1948 and 1967 and Jordan's policies, Jordan has the largest Palestinian refugee population in the world.

Ecuador and Peru: Settling a Border Dispute

In 1998, a peace agreement resolved a long-standing border dispute in South America between Ecuador and Peru. These two neighbors had contested their Amazon jungle border for decades, even fighting brief wars over it (one in the 1940s and another in 1995). By the late 90s, they finally negotiated a permanent settlement. 

The 1998 accord drew the final border line and ended the conflict peacefully. Ecuador's border dispute was with Peru, its neighbor to the south. (Ecuador's other neighbor, Colombia, was not involved in this issue.) 

Cold War Alliances: NATO and the Warsaw Pact

During the Cold War, Western and Eastern blocs formed rival military alliances. In 1949 the United States and its Western European allies created NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to stand together against the Soviet Union. In 1955, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies responded with their own alliance: the Warsaw Pact.

It included the USSR and countries like Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and others under Soviet influence. Essentially, the Warsaw Pact was the communist world's counter to NATO. The reason it was formed is straightforward: NATO existed, and the Soviets wanted their own alliance to solidify control over Eastern Europe and deter the West.

Nixon's Visit to China (1972)

A milestone in diplomacy took place in 1972 when U.S. President Richard Nixon made a groundbreaking visit to Communist China. This was a huge surprise at the time, because the U.S. and the People's Republic of China had no official relations for over 20 years after China's 1949 communist revolution. Nixon, despite his anti-communist reputation, reached out to China for strategic reasons. 

The Soviet Union and China were hostile to each other by the late 1960s, so Nixon saw a chance to open relations with China and gain an upper hand against the Soviets in the Cold War. During Nixon's 1972 trip, he met with Chinese leaders in Beijing. 

The Six-Day War and the Golan Heights

The Six-Day War in June 1967 was a brief conflict in which Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, capturing several territories. It's important to match each territory with the country it came from:

• From Egypt: the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.
• From Jordan: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).
• From Syria: the Golan Heights.

The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel. Syria had used that high ground to shell Israeli communities before 1967, so when war broke out, Israel seized it. (By contrast, Sinai and Gaza came from Egypt, and the West Bank came from Jordan.) Knowing which lands came from which country is key. So remember: Golan Heights = taken from Syria (1967).

Al-Qaeda's Grievance Against the U.S.

Why did al-Qaeda initially turn against the United States? The major early reason was the presence of U.S. troops in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. After the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. kept military forces in Saudi Arabia (home to Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites) to deter further aggression by Iraq. Osama bin Laden and his followers were outraged by this, seeing it as a defilement of sacred land and proof of American occupation in the Muslim world. 

This was the core grievance behind al-Qaeda's declaration of jihad against the U.S. in the 1990s. They also resented U.S. support for Israel, but the American troops on Saudi soil were the spark that galvanized their anger.

The 1947 Partition of India and Its Legacy

In 1947, British India was divided along religious lines, an event known as the Partition. This created two new independent states: India (mostly Hindu) and Pakistan (mostly Muslim). Pakistan was initially in two separate regions – West Pakistan (in the Indus Valley area) and East Pakistan (in Bengal, over a thousand miles away). 

This two-part arrangement didn't last. East Pakistan broke away in 1971 after a war and became the independent country of Bangladesh. Thus, the countries created by the 1947 Partition are India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. (Nearby countries like Nepal or Sri Lanka were not part of this partition.) The key outcome of Partition was the creation of those nations.