Unit 9: 1980 - Present

Unit 9 covers from 1980 to the present. It focuses on the rise of the conservative movement beginning in the 1980s, technological and economic changes, and the end of the Cold War. 

The conservative movement from the 1980s to the present traces its origins to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. The Reagan administration enacted significant tax cuts and deregulated many industries. Conservativism at the federal level inspired similar efforts at local and state governments. Governments at all levels began to reduce funding for social programs and limit the scope of government authority.

At the same time that the Reagan administration was reducing domestic spending, it was pursuing an interventionist foreign policy. U.S. military spending increased in the 1980s, and has continued to increase up the modern day, as the United States continues to assert a role in international affairs. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 most of U.S. foreign policy has focused on fighting terrorism around the world.