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August 2nd, 1964:
On August 2, at 15:40G (G standing for “Golf”, an abbreviation for Gulf of Tonkin time), the Maddox – the US captained by John J. Herrick- and operating for the signal intelligence cover program Desoto reported that it was being approached by high-speed boats. Within a few minutes it was attacked by torpedoes and automatic weapons fire
August 4th, 1964:
Just two days after the incident involving North Vietnamese torpedo boats, another incident occurred. The USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy started their patrols on the morning of August 4 at 06:00G (local time). Captain Herrick noted two dots in his radar screen and informed Washington supposing they were North Vietnamese torpedo boats. President Johnson and his advisers, notably Secretary of Defense McNamara, meet and decide to take action even though Captain Herrick suggested a deeper evaluation of the situation before further action considering the bad weather. Captain Herrick finally sent a third report evoking his doubts about whether an attack actually had occurred but it was ignored by the White House and Johnson who decided the same day to address the nation to announce that retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam were to be launched.
Arab Springs – 2011
The Arab Springs were a series of anti-governments protests, uprisings and armed rebellions affecting the countries of the Middle East and North Africa in the early 2011. Their purposes ranged from overthrowing the government to obtaining more rights and liberties. Their relative success remains a burning issue and is highly controversial.
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Crimean War (1853-1856)
The Crimean War took place between October 1853 and March 1856. It opposed the Russian Empire and a Coalition mainly formed of the Ottoman Empire and the French Empire. France wanted to defend catholic inhabitants of the Peninsula but also to restore its power and its position among the great nations of Europe. The Ottoman Empire was enduring a harsh decline of its power and still resented the loss of Crimea in 1792 to Russia. During the war Crimean civilians were the main victims of the conflict. Sickness and mass poverty devastated the region. Although Russia lost the war, it kept Crimea after the Treaty of Paris.
Cuban Missile Crisis – October, 1962
A confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union over the use of nuclear weapon deployment in Cuba. It is considered the closest moment to nuclear warfare during the Cold War.
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EuroMaidan Revolution (2013)
Months of mounting discontent and tension between the Yanukovych government and pro-European protesters culminated in the EuroMaidan Revolution. It was triggered by the violent reprisal of student protestors in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) on 30 November 2013. Live coverage of the brutality of Berkut special forces against the students triggered a huge civil unrest as citizens rallied to Independence Square in the months that followed. While it started out as a spontaneous protest against corruption and poor governance, the revolution quickly gained traction as various political opposition groups organised and coordinated a nationwide demonstration. What was unexpected was the sheer determination of protesters to maintain the revolution; tents and field kitchens were set up while speeches and cultural performances filled the days. In the months that followed, sporadic clashes with the Berkut forces would result in at least 100 dead. Yanukovych eventually fled to Russia, leaving the Parliament to vote for a massive reshuffling of the cabinet and a return to the 2004 constitution, in which Ukraine is a parliamentary republic.
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Fall of the Soviet Union
Following a series of protests, regime changes, and popular reforms in puppet states, Soviet satellite states and the Soviet Union itself a group of hardliners in the KGB and military attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev and reinstate the old order. Their attempt failed. In the end a large group of Soviet aligned states took the attempted coup as a sign of weakness from the USSR and declared their independence. In fact, in the 1991 Ukrainian Referendum on independence 90% of the population voted in favor of independence. The Soviet Union was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991 through a declaration by the Supreme Soviet.
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Johnson’s Presidency: November 1963 – January 1969
Johnson was the Vice-President of the United States under John F. Kennedy. He succeeded as President to Kennedy after the latter’s assassination in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963
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Munich Conference of 2007
It is the world’s largest gathering which takes annually place in Munich, Germany since 1963. It has become the most important forum for discussion about international security policies with around 70 countries taking their seats each year. In 2007, Putin’s discourse about Russia’s security policies and the great number of criticism he addressed towards the United States and NATO had surprised everyone and everywhere in the news, journalists were warning about a potential come back of the Cold War … (LJ)
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Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution refers to a series of events that took place in Ukraine starting from the announcement of the results of the second turn of the Ukrainian presidential campaign the 21st November of 2004. This presidential campaign was between Russian-backed candidate Vicktor Ianoukovitch and a more pro-western candidate Viktor Ioutchenko. After the announcement of the victory of Ianoukovitch there is a suspicion of a rigged election that triggers a massive vague of protests all over Ukraine with purpose to reorganise the election. The media soon called this revolution the orange revolution due to orange being the color of the political party of Ioutchenko. After some serious conflicts and demonstrations an election is finally reorganised and Ioutchenko is elected president with 52 % of the voices against 44% for his opponent. The Orange Revolution marks the beginning of a rapprochement of Ukraine with NATO and EU that can be linked with the Ukrainian crisis of 2013.
Opération Turquoise (1994): was a military operation authorised by the UN Security Council’s resolution 992 consisting in the establishment of Zones Humanitaires Sures (ZHS), ‘safe humanitarian zones’.
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Pivot to Asia: one of Obama administration’s central foreign policy initiatives. It is meant to be a strategic re-balancing of US interests from other areas in the globe, towards East Asia; given its increasing role in global affairs in various domains. the US seeks to have closer ties, be it economically or even militarily with countries in the area.
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South Ossetia’s War (The second), its beginning – August 7/8th, 2008
A large scale Georgian operation is undertaken against the presence of Russian troops in South Ossetia, officially present to repair railways for humanitarian purposes. This opened a five-day war between Georgia, Russia and South Ossetia. While Russia was accusing Georgia of preparing a genocide against the South Ossetians, Georgia wanted to fight against the illegal presence of Russia and its will of annexation of South Ossetia, still considered by Georgia as a part of its territory. See our article for further details. (LJ)
Sykes-Picot agreements – May 19th, 1916
Secret formal treaty signed on May 19th, 1916 by the representatives of Great Britain and France. It stated that with the end of World War I, the majority of the lands under the Ottoman Empire’s control would fall either under British or French spheres of influence.
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Unilateral declaration of independence of South Ossetia – April 9th, 1991
South Ossetia was an autonomous region of Georgia. It now calls itself ‘the Republic of South Ossetia’, nonetheless, Georgia does not recognize this independence and considers it as a Georgian region. (LJ)
V] Vietnam War 1955-1975:
Occurred in the context of the Cold War, the US intervention has, then, to be understood in the larger perspective of the Containment Policy. The very long and costly armed conflict opposed two main belligerents: the communist regime of North Vietnam with its southern (The Viet Cong) against South Vietnam and its main ally the United States.
The roots of the Vietnam war lie in the irreconcilable opposition between the Viet Cong’s independent and communist agendas with the desires of Western forces (France and the US) to keep some control on the region as well as the South Vietnam aspirations of capitalist development. By 1969, the peak of the US presence in the war, more than 500.000 US military forces were involved in the conflict on the ground. This conflict was one of the biggest military and political failures of the US. US forces were progressively withdrawn by President Nixon from 1973 to 1975.
Understanding Decisions 