Types of Conflict
Canadian & World Politicswww.CraigMarlatt.com/school
Types of Conflict
1. Non-Governmental Conflict
2. Nationalistic and Ethnocentric Conflict
3. Major “Traditional” Conflicts
4. The Cold War
Non-Governmental Conflict
• Terrorism– Futile Search for Roots of Terrorism– Where does terrorism occur?
• Tribalism– Humans have a need of belonging.
• Organized Crime– Political machines in place to fulfill citizen demand for
illegal gambling, liquor, sex, …
Nationalistic & Ethnocentric Conflict
• Balkan Wars– 1912-1913 fight for Ottoman Empire territory
• Rwanda– 1994 genocide of 800 000 in 100 days– Shake Hands with the Devil
• Democratic Republic of the Congo– Killed, injured, or displaced 50 million– ER in the Congo
• Apartheid in South Africa– 1948-1990 with origins….?!
Nationalistic & Ethnocentric Conflict
• Ethnocentrism – Thinking one's own group's ways are superior to
others
• India and Pakistan– Created after the departure of the British
• Israel and Arab Nations– 1 Jewish state v. 21 Arab states
• Multinational Indonesia– East Timor
Major “Traditional” Conflicts
• Berlin Airlift
Major “Traditional” Conflicts
• Korean War
Major “Traditional” Conflicts
• Suez Crisis
Major “Traditional” Conflicts
• Vietnam War
The Cold War
1. Espionage2. McCarthyism3. Space Race4. Arms Race5. Bomber Gap6. U-2 Incident7. Missile Gap8. Bay of Pigs9. Cuban Missile Crisis
Cold War – Espionage
• CIA/FBI, KGB, MI6, …
• Ottawa 1945 – Igor Gouzenko defects
• RCMP (until 1983)
• Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
• Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
• Spooking the Spooks – Spying at Canadian Universities
Cold War – McCarthyism
• U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy
• 1953-1954 Hearings on “Un-American Activities”
• Excerpts from the McCarthy Hearings– Military officers– Newspaper editors– Musical composers
Cold War – Arms Race
• Militarization movements
• Mutually Assured Destruction (!!)
• Three phase theory:– Both nations have enough weapons to destroy the
others– Both nations can detect first strike before it
happens– Both nations are able to respond “appropriately”
before first strike hits
Cold War – Bomber Gap
• The fear of Soviet superiority in the area of intercontinental bombers
• Soviets flew just 2 different bombers past the Americans several times, giving the illusion of having many active bombers
• Americans knew that the Soviets had a bomber with nuclear and long range capability, but did they have 1 or 100?
• The U.S. response? ….
Cold War – The U2 Incident
• The U2 bomber was built in response to the Soviet Bison aircraft– 70 000 feet high– 3000 nautical miles range
• First flight was detected by the Soviets, but was unreachable by 20 000 feet
• May 1, 1960 Gary Powers was captured
• U2 still used – discovered missiles in Cuba and flew missions in Gulf War I
Cold War – Missile Gap
• The perceived Soviet superiority in ICBMs due to exaggerated estimates – Gaither Committee (1957)– U.S. Airforce (1960)
• U2 planes no longer safe sources of intelligence
• U.S. needed alternate means to see what was going on in the Soviet Union, so….
Cold War – Space Race
• Could satellites safely fly over enemy territory and take pictures of military activities?
• In addition, the rocket demonstrated a new form of international warfare
• USSR and US raced to become the first to use rockets successfully – for the exploration of space – to demonstrate the potential use of rockets as weapons
Cold War – Bay of Pigs
• In April 1961, newly elected President Kennedy sent in a 1300 strong CIA-trained force which failed miserably
• Military advisors pushed the naïve President into something he personally had no confidence in
• This failure heeded caution to the President just 18 months later….
Cold War – Missile Crisis
• American U2 planes detected nuclear missiles just 90 miles off the coast of Florida
• U.S. forces were at their highest state of readiness and Soviet forces were authorized to use tactical nuclear weapons
• Could President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev come to a settlement?