Threats to Democracy

Championed by USSR in direct opposition to US

Fought proxy wars with the West, largely for ideological and economical domination

The Soviets were not the only communists, but were the most impactful

Diametrically opposed to capitalism

Not the same as socialism, but similar in some ways

Demanded cult-like dedication

Party over everything

Propaganda

Hidden truths

Several countries subscribed to communism in some form

Many had short stints with communism

The Soviets were the only genuine communist threat to democracy

African communism

Angola

Benin

Congo-Brazzaville

Ethiopia

Mozambique

Somalia

Asian/Middle Eastern communism

Afghanistan

Cambodia

Mongolia

North Vietnam

South Yemen

Smaller countries fell under the sphere of larger countries

United States

Capitalist

USSR/Russia

Communist

Cuba

Though in close proximity to US, Cuba formed an alliance with the USSR

Cuban missile crisis

China

Aided the rise in extremists

Terrorists, foreign and domestic, cropped up from unstable situations

Often misguided by religious beliefs

Decolonization

Long overdue, many republics became independent

Power vacuums often ensued

Separate superpowers often tried to influence fledgling nations

India

Vietnam

Morocco

Tunisia

Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

Malaysia

Hong Kong

Indonesia

Allowed new wars to be fought in new ways

Helped make guerrilla fighting more feasible

Warfare, and therefore threats, changed drastically during the 20th century

ICBMs helped cement superpowers standings

Allowed nukes to become global

Nuclear weapons

The ultimate deterrent

Indescribably dangerous in the wrong hands

More efficient training

Anyone with enough funding could fight well

Air strikes

Strike from a distance

Calvalry

Chemical and automatic weapons

Nuclear weapons

Most used technology for good

Several used it for evil

Made the act of killing someone less personal

With better technology came more opportunities to spread ideals and terrorize

These ideals and terrorism were often devastating to groups/countries and/or individuals

911

Mogadishu bombings

1993 World Trade Center bombing

Sought to enact their version of religion

Found in most cultures and religions

Christianity

Ku Klux Klan

David Koresh

Jim Jones

Islam

Al-Qaeda

Taliban

ISIS

Varied greatly in their objectives

Often based on misinterpreted holy text