Panama and nafta

The Gulf War was not the only military operation of the USA in the 1980-1990s.

On December 30, 1989, a brief US invasion of Panama deposed dictator General Manuel Antonio Noriega. In the 1980s, addiction to crack cocaine reached epidemic proportions, and President Bush put the “war on drugs” at the center of his domestic agenda.

Noriega was involved in drug smuggling operations and wanted to be put in trail. Other reasons were to replace Noriega with a government headed by Guillermo Endara, who had won a presidential election that Noriega subsequently annulled. Bush also announced that US troops in Panama were safeguards to the American citizens. 12,000 soldiers were sent to Panama.

Noriega obtained temporary refuge in the Vatican diplomatic mission in Panama. The USA suffered 23 dead and 322 wounded in the invasion. Panamian losses were much higher. Later Noriega turned himself over to US authorities, and he was later tried and convicted in US federal court in Miami, Florida, off drug trafficking and racketeering.

The Bush administration negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada. NAFTA was approved by Congress in late 1993. It is viewed by many as a testing ground for future trade agreements, which could lead to free trade throughout the Western Hemisphere.

After the Gulf War, the USA found itself in its deepest recession since the early 1980s. In 1992 the federal deficit continued to mount. Americans expressed profound pessimism about their future.

The 1992 presidential election saw the fight between George Bush, Bill Clinton and an independent candidate – Texas entrepreneur H, Ross Perot.

On November 3, 1992, Bill Clinton won elections despite receiving only 43% of the popular vote.

XXI century

The 21st century began with the United States as the sole superpower in the absence of the Soviet Union, with several other entities, such as China, India and the European Union as potential superpowers. As the Cold War was over and terrorism said to be on the rise^], the United States and its allies turned their attention to the Middle East.

In 2001– George W. Bush becomes the second president of the United States to be the son of a former president, when he is inagurated on January 20, 2001. The same year Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 commercial airliners and crashed 3 of them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, killing nearly 3,000 people. The United States subsequently declared a War on Terrorism. As a result the U.S. and NATO invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 and overthrew the Al-Qaeda-supportive Taliban government. Troops remained to install a democratic government, fight a slowly escalating insurgency, and to hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In 2003 the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 and overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein (who was executed by the Iraqi government on December 30, 2006). Coalition troops remain in the country to install a democratic government and fight an escalating insurgency. In addition to an insurgency against the American presence, Iraq also suffered from a civil war for several years. The war was soon seen as the central front of the War on Terror by many governments, despite growing international dissatisfaction with the war. The total death toll has been estimated at near 150,000 but these estimations are highly disputed. After the U.S.-led coalition initiated a troop surge in 2007, casualty numbers have decreased significantly.