WHAT NEW GLOBAL ISSUES HAVE EMERGED SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR?
IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN AS MANY AS YOU CAN.

As the comments below suggest, there probably aren't very many global
issues that are completely new in the past decade. However, there are
a number of issues that used to be unimportant or didn't receive much
attention, and now they are a major concern.  Here are a number of
such issues:

1. The rise of radical Islam as a perpetrator of terrorism. Although
the rapidly growing variety of radical Islam is about half a century
old, it is within the past few years that it has actively made the
United States a major target.  The al Qaeda attack on New York last
year was the most significant attack against the U.S. on U.S. soil
since Pearl Harbor.

2. The existence of only a single superpower. This one is obviously
tied to the end of the Cold War. With the demise of the Soviet Union,
the world is left with a single superpower.  One effect that this has
had is that during the Cold War, the United States showed more
willingness than it does now to reach agreement on some international
issues.  Now the U.S. position is that it should go alone if need be,
such as in its refusal to adopt the Kyoto global-warming treaty or the
expansion of the authority of international courts.  Following is the
link to one interesting article about how the new reality will play
out:

Intellectuals to Contribute for the Creation of a New Global System
http://www.gispri.or.jp/english/newsletter/1597-1.html

3. Globalization and the expansion of international free trade.  Free
trade has become almost completely so in Europe and is becoming so in
North America, and efforts are under way to expand trade across other
borders as well. This has led to greater concerns about the power of
international banking, sweatshop labor and environmental degradation.
This issue is also connected with the problems that some countries are
facing in paying off international debts.

4. The AIDS epidemic.  Particularly in parts of Africa, the spread of
AIDS has the potential (if it hasn't done so already) to radically
transform societies.

5. Changing currency models. Many of the major countries have started
using a common currency, the euro, partly in a attempt to keep the
U.S. dollar from becoming (if it isn't already) the de facto
international currency.  At the same time, a number of Latin American
countries have adopted the dollar as their legal currencies.  How this
will play out is unclear.

6. Growth of the Internet.  In a way never possible before, the
development of the Internet has expanded the possibilities of truly
international communications.  This has led to expanded censorship in
some countries as well as a weakening in some cases of the power of
borders (e.g., Americans gambling online even where it's illegal at
home).

7. Changing alliances.  Not all that long ago, the world was broadly
divided into two camps.  These days, alliances are forming on a
variety of issues, particularly regional concerns and trade.

8. Global warming.  Leaders in many countries believe that a major
international effort should be launched to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions and to take other steps to reduce global warming. Other
environmental issues, such as sustainable development, also could
become more prominent in coming years.

9. Immigration issues.  Both changing economies as armed conflict have
caused many people to move to other countries.  This has become a
major domestic issues in various countries, among them Germany and
Canada.

10. Nuclear proliferation.  This has long been an issue, but its focus
has changed since the demise of the Soviet Union.  Possession of
nuclear materials in the hands of former Soviet states may have made
it easier for them to be passed on to smaller countries. Meanwhile, a
number of other countries -- among them Iraq, Israel, South Africa,
North Korea, India and Pakistan -- have developed or have attempted to
develop nuclear capability.

11. The new smallpox threat.  This isn't an issue yet, but it could
be.  The possibility of smallpox as a weapon has opened the
possibility that smallpox bacteria, once stored in the Soviet Union,
could somehow find its way to people who would release them into the
general population.

12. Human rights.  Again, this isn't a new issue,  but changes in the
balance of power throughout the world have prompted new looks at what
responsibilities those in power have for the oppressed.

I hope this list helps.

Best wishes,

mvguy



Search strategy: Most of this list was based on personal knowledge. I
also browsed sites for background information but searching on Google
with the term "international issues" (without the quotes).
://www.google.com/search?q=international+issues

One good list of issues can be found at this site:

U.S. Department of State: International Topics and Issues
http://www.state.gov/interntl/

Dear npb17,

As with any conflict in history, the repercussions of the Cold War
affected many levels of government and diplomacy, the military,
economics, trade,... and on and on and on. As far as on a worldwide
scale, the end of the Cold War has left the Former Soviet Union, not
as one entity, but as a closely knit, historically state-run group of
independent nations trying to rapidly re-create governments under more
culture-and politically favorable moderns structures than they held
under Soviet rule. Russia, the largest, has demonstrated it's
willingness to form more democratic government, and has tried to
create a leadership role among other former soviet nations, and become
a world power despite problems of finance and rapid reform. The
breakup created fears that the military, once among the largest
standing Army extant, would fragment, and lose control of the great
knowlege and expertise in technological warfare held by the soviets.
Far from happening, other nations, such as the United States and other
countries have repatriated and been able to gain enormous amounts of
information, technology and created a situation where long-term
enemies now cooperate and share openly from experience, cooperation,
and new commercial programs have absorbed skilled technical services
which were only seen as government entities. Globalization has been
the most commonly seen offshoot of the end of the Cold War, and
businesses, governments, and citizens are finding that the separations
between nations are far less obvious than once viewed.

From the standpoint of the military, intelligence and security, the
removal of the Soviet union has been both one of relief,... and
concern. In military planning, the course and primary focus of the
military had been the Soviet threat, so with it's demise, a new focus
was needed, and a growth in "smaller conflict war" was quickly put in
place. US, and Eropean powers either downsized or re-directed training
into other areas, such as "policing" or "lower-grade conflict"
training. as for intelligence,...it went global in places, and in
others, it fell to record low-levels in priority.

"new" issues meaning:
- they were not present pre-1991, and emerged only after the Cold War
ended?
- they were present pre-1991, but their importance was recognised only
after?
- they were present pre-1991, AND recognised as important, but
significantly overshadowed by the greater Cold War political climate
of the era?

And must they be related to the Cold War? ie. It was the end of the
Cold War that *caused* these issues to develop.

I'd suggest something to do with the third world. The issue of
sustainable development, allowing for developmental aid, the debt
crisis, AIDS.

Environmental issues, problems of globalisation, western cultural
invasion etc.

Just throwing phrases off my head :)