Threats to Democracy
Religious Extremists
Varied greatly in their objectives
Often based on misinterpreted holy text
Found in most cultures and religions
Islam
ISIS
Taliban
Al-Qaeda
Christianity
Jim Jones
David Koresh
Ku Klux Klan
Sought to enact their version of religion
With better technology came more opportunities to spread ideals and terrorize
These ideals and terrorism were often devastating to groups/countries and/or individuals
1993 World Trade Center bombing
Mogadishu bombings
911
Technological advances
Made the act of killing someone less personal
Most used technology for good
Several used it for evil
Calvalry
Chemical and automatic weapons
Air strikes
Strike from a distance
More efficient training
Anyone with enough funding could fight well
Nuclear weapons
The ultimate deterrent
Indescribably dangerous in the wrong hands
ICBMs helped cement superpowers standings
Allowed nukes to become global
Warfare, and therefore threats, changed drastically during the 20th century
Allowed new wars to be fought in new ways
Helped make guerrilla fighting more feasible
An unstable world
Decolonization
Indonesia
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
Tunisia
Morocco
Vietnam
India
Long overdue, many republics became independent
Power vacuums often ensued
Separate superpowers often tried to influence fledgling nations
Aided the rise in extremists
Terrorists, foreign and domestic, cropped up from unstable situations
Often misguided by religious beliefs
Smaller countries fell under the sphere of larger countries
China
USSR/Russia
Communist
Cuba
Though in close proximity to US, Cuba formed an alliance with the USSR
Cuban missile crisis
United States
Capitalist
Communism
Asian/Middle Eastern communism
South Yemen
North Vietnam
Mongolia
Cambodia
Afghanistan
African communism
Somalia
Mozambique
Ethiopia
Congo-Brazzaville
Benin
Angola
Several countries subscribed to communism in some form
Many had short stints with communism
The Soviets were the only genuine communist threat to democracy
Demanded cult-like dedication
Party over everything
Propaganda
Hidden truths
Diametrically opposed to capitalism
Not the same as socialism, but similar in some ways
Championed by USSR in direct opposition to US
The Soviets were not the only communists, but were the most impactful
Fought proxy wars with the West, largely for ideological and economical domination
