a) Social and economic structures

After WWII, the USA became the world's wealthiest country. A constant economic growth during the 50s and 60s transformed the American social structure. A consumer society was created on the basis of relatively high salaries and a domestic market able to provide the new middle class with all kind of consumer goods (such as TVs, washing machines, cars, and good houses).

Nevertheless, the so-called "affluent society" was not available for everybody. Homelessness and poverty persisted. African-American people were systematically segregated, above all in the Southern States.

b) The New Frontier and its limits

Although the main aspects of the New Deal were not changed under H. Truman and D. Eisenhower (including State intervention in economic matters and public support of social services), democrat president J. F. Kennedy underlined the need to enlarge the scope of social protection. His New Frontier programme tried to boost the elimination of poverty, unemployment benefits and other social funding. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor L. Johnson continued this political direction and launched an additional initiative to achieve equal rights for African Americans (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to illegalize discrimination and the Voting Rights Act of 1965).

In 1963, Martin Luther King (Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964) marched on Washington DC to protest against the situation of African Americans, segregated in education, voting, labour market and housing. He gave there a famous speech -"I have a dream.", pleading for a non-violent activism. Notwithstanding, racial violence did not decrease, and King himself was murdered in 1968.

c) Nixon and Reagan

America moved politically to the right after the presidential election of republican R. Nixon, who cut social funds. Nixon resigned because of his involvement in the Watergate affair (illegal wiretapping at the headquarters of the Democrat party), but the conservative direction continued under republican R. Reagan. A former actor and governor of California, Reagan favoured a renewed American economic growth through a lower fiscal pressure. A reduction of the intervention of the State and lower taxes would leave additional resources to the private sector and consequently would support economic dynamism. As a matter of fact, Reaganomics (the economic policy of Reagan) was not successful in social terms (reduction in public spending on education, unemployment, medical programs), although the American economy did grow since 1983.

d) Foreign affairs

On the other hand, public expenditures and deficit increased because of the governmental interest in defence. Reagan reactivated the nuclear arms race and supported the initiative Star Wars. He also backed guerrilla groups in Central America and ordered the bombing of the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. Under his successor George Bush, the USA led an international coalition against Iraq, which had invaded Kuwait in August 1990 -operation "Desert Storm", during the 1st Gulf War. In spite of the defeat of Iraqi troops and the liberation of Kuwait, Saddam Hussein was not removed from power.

The USA remains as the only superpower after the fall of the USSR in 1991 and the end of the communist regimes in Europe. Moreover, many analysts pointed out the "end of history" with the universal triumph of democracy and market economy. Nevertheless, new challenges arose, related to the terrorist activities of al-Qaeda and the attacks against the World Trade Center. President George W. Bush declared war on terrorism and attacked Afghanistan first, and after Iraq.