Vietnam
The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was
completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887.
Vietnam declared independence after World War II, but France
continued to rule until its 1954 defeat by Communist forces under Ho
Chi MINH. Under the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into
the Communist North and anti-Communist South. US economic and
military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt
to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn
following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North
Vietnamese forces overran the South reuniting the country under
Communist rule. Despite the return of peace, for over a decade the
country experienced little economic growth because of conservative
leadership policies, the persecution and mass exodus of individuals
- many of them successful South Vietnamese merchants - and growing
international isolation. However, since the enactment of Vietnam's
"doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have
committed to increased economic liberalization and enacted
structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce
more competitive, export-driven industries. The Communist leaders,
however, maintain control on political expression and have resisted
outside calls to improve human rights. The country continues to
experience small-scale protests from various groups, the vast
majority connected to land-use issues, calls for increased political
space and the lack of equitable mechanisms for resolving disputes.
Various ethnic minorities, such as the Montagnards of the Central
Highlands and the Khmer Krom in the southern delta region, have also
held protests.
Virgin Islands During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848.
Wake Island
The US annexed Wake Island in 1899 for a cable station.
An important air and naval base was constructed in 1940-41. In
December 1941, the island was captured by the Japanese and held
until the end of World War II. In subsequent years, Wake was
developed as a stopover and refueling site for military and
commercial aircraft transiting the Pacific. Since 1974, the island's
airstrip has been used by the US military, as well as for emergency
landings. Although operations on the island were suspended and all
personnel evacuated in August 2006 with the approach of super
typhoon IOKE (category 5), damage was comparatively minor. A US Air
Force repair team restored full capability to the airfield and
facilities, which remains a vital strategic link in the Pacific
region.
Wallis and Futuna
The Futuna island group was discovered by the
Dutch in 1616 and Wallis by the British in 1767, but it was the
French who declared a protectorate over the islands in 1842. In
1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French
overseas territory.
West Bank
The September 1993 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on
Interim Self-Government Arrangements provided for a transitional
period of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September
1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security
and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Negotiations to determine the
permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled following
the outbreak of an intifada in September 2000. In April 2003, the
Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final
settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the
two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic
Palestine. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late
2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month
later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments
in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005,
Israel unilaterally withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and
dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and withdrew
settlers and redeployed soldiers from four small northern West Bank
settlements. Nonetheless, Israel still controls maritime, airspace,
and most access to the Gaza Strip. In January 2006, the Islamic
Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC). HAMAS took control of the PA government
in March 2006, but President ABBAS had little success negotiating
with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the
international community so as to lift economic sanctions on
Palestinians. Violent clashes between Fatah and HAMAS supporters in
the Gaza Strip in 2006 and early 2007 resulted in numerous
Palestinian deaths and injuries. In February 2007, ABBAS and HAMAS
Political Bureau Chief MISHAL signed the Mecca Agreement in Saudi
Arabia that resulted in the formation of a Palestinian National
Unity Government (NUG) headed by HAMAS member Ismail HANIYA.
However, fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, and in June 2007,
HAMAS militants succeeded in a violent takeover of all military and
governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip. ABBAS dismissed the NUG
and through a series of presidential decrees formed a PA government
in the West Bank led by independent Salam FAYYAD. HAMAS rejected the
NUG's dismissal, and despite multiple rounds of Egyptian-brokered
reconciliation negotiations, the two groups have failed to bridge
their differences. The status quo remains with HAMAS in control of
the Gaza Strip and ABBAS and the Fatah-dominated PA governing the
West Bank. FAYYAD and his PA government continue to implement a
series of security and economic reforms to improve conditions in the
West Bank. ABBAS has said he will not resume negotiations with
current Prime Minister NETANYAHU until Israel halts all settlement
activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Western Sahara
Morocco annexed the northern two-thirds of Western
Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976 and claimed the rest of the
territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla
war with the Polisario Front contesting Morocco's sovereignty ended
in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on the
territory's final status has been repeatedly postponed. The UN since
2007 has sponsored intermittent talks between representatives of the
Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front to negotiate the
status of Western Sahara. Morocco has put forward an autonomy
proposal for the territory, which would allow for some local
administration while maintaining Moroccan sovereignty. The
Polisario, with Algeria's support, demands a popular referendum that
includes the option of independence.
World
Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating
world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of
vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology,
from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to
the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western
alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living
standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased
concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages
of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air
pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate
emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's
population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2
billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in
1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued
exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes
(e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even
more lethal weapons of war).
Yemen
North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918.
The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern
port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became
South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a
Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of
Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of
hostility between the states. The two countries were formally
unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist
movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and
Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.
Zambia
The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the
[British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by
the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining
spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia
upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper
prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991
brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996
saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001
was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a
legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate
Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption
investigation in 2002 to probe high-level corruption during the
previous administration. In 2006-07, this task force successfully
prosecuted four cases, including a landmark civil case in the UK in
which former President CHILUBA and numerous others were found liable
for USD 41 million. MWANAWASA was reelected in 2006 in an election
that was deemed free and fair. Upon his abrupt death in August 2008,
he was succeeded by his Vice President Rupiah BANDA, who
subsequently won a special presidential election in October 2008.
Zimbabwe
The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South
Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that
favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally
declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and
demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority
in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla
uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as
Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister,
has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has
dominated the country's political system since independence. His
chaotic land redistribution campaign, which began in 2000, caused an
exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in
widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international
condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure
his reelection. The ruling ZANU-PF party used fraud and intimidation
to win a two-thirds majority in the March 2005 parliamentary
election, allowing it to amend the constitution at will and recreate
the Senate, which had been abolished in the late 1980s. In April
2005, Harare embarked on Operation Restore Order, ostensibly an
urban rationalization program, which resulted in the destruction of
the homes or businesses of 700,000 mostly poor supporters of the
opposition. President MUGABE in June 2007 instituted price controls
on all basic commodities causing panic buying and leaving store
shelves empty for months. General elections held in March 2008
contained irregularities but still amounted to a censure of the
ZANU-PF-led government with the opposition winning a majority of
seats in parliament. MDC opposition leader Morgan TSVANGIRAI won the
most votes in the presidential polls, but not enough to win
outright. In the lead up to a run-off election in late June 2008,
considerable violence enacted against opposition party members led
to the withdrawal of TSVANGIRAI from the ballot. Extensive evidence
of vote tampering and ballot-box stuffing resulted in international
condemnation of the process. Difficult negotiations over a
power-sharing government, in which MUGABE remained president and
TSVANGIRAI became prime minister, were finally settled in February
2009, although the leaders have yet failed to agree upon many key
outstanding governmental issues.