The Cold War: A Brief Introduction

• By 1971, China gained a seat at the United Nations and President Nixon initiated diplomatic relations with China, which was closed to the world since World War II.
• The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty was signed between the US and Soviet Union in 1972, the first step towards reducing nuclear missiles.
• The Soviet Union experienced severe financial and political disintegration in the late 1980s, leading to its fall in 1991 and the end of the Cold War.
• China's economic ties with other countries, especially the US, expanded, and the Chinese people began demanding greater freedoms, culminating in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
• The European Union was established in 1992 to integrate economic activities and facilitate movement between countries.
• The Oslo Accords, a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were signed in the late 1990s.
• Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa in 1994, and the US transferred control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.
• The Neo-Expressionist artists focused on the application and manipulation of paint rather than the subject matter itself in the late 20th century.
• Video art emerged in the late 1960s and became more accessible and affordable in the 1970s due to advances in technology.
• The Young British Artists gained notoriety in the late 1980s and 1990s for their use of unconventional materials and shock tactics in their artwork.

Learn about the political and economic issues that arose worldwide due to the cold war between the United States and European nations against the Soviet Union, and the dominance of the arms race during this period.