The Western Heritage, Combined Volume (Twelth Edition)

"The years since the publication of the eleventh edition of The Western Heritage have produced significant changes that present new and serious challenges to the West and the rest of the world. The most striking of these changes is in the economy. In 2008, a serious financial crisis produced a deep recession that diminished the widespread economic growth and prosperity of the West and much of the world and threatened to produce the political instability that usually accompanies economic upheaval. By 2012, the European Union, long an economic powerhouse, felt the threat to its currency and the solvency of its weaker members. The United States also suffered a severe setback, and the recovery from its recession was the slowest in decades. After a decade of slow growth and mixed results from attempts at fiscal austerity and loose monetary policy, the global economy appears to be returning to expansion.
In the realms of international relations and politics, the United States and its European friends and allies pursued mixed policies. The war in Iraq, which some had thought lost, took a turn in 2008 when the Americans changed their approach by introducing a sharply increased military force, popularly called “the surge,” and a new counter-insurgence strategy. It was so successful that the western allies chose to withdraw their combat troops and leave the remaining fighting to the new Iraqi government. With fewer troops and a less clear commitment, the Americans undertook a similar “surge” in Afghanistan. The effort met with considerable success, but the prospect of continued fighting and diminishing support by the engaged Western powers left the future of their efforts to clear the region of terrorist bases uncertain. The reduced commitment of American forces led to the rise of new waves of threats from terrorism in
the form of militant organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and in protracted war in Syria..."
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