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The Breakup of the Soviet Union
In 1989 the Soviet-backed regimes in Eastern Europe showed the dramatic crumbling of the Soviet power. Son the Soviet Union itself was falling apart. -
Economic Changes
The end of communism brought mixed results for the economies of Eastern Europe. Earnings have not risen for all workers, and many state-supported factories have closed, leading to high unemployment in some areas. -
The War on Terror
The 1990s saw the beginnings of a series of terrorist attacks on American targets within the United States and overseas, including bombings of the World Trade Center, in New York city. In 1993 the U.S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were also bombings. -
Other Issues
After the SovietUnion fell, underlying issues in the region bubbled to the top.One example of ethnic conflict occurred in a former Soviet republic in the early 1990s when the ethnic Armenian minority sought to break away from the country of Azerbaijan. -
The Economy
For the United States the 1990s was a time of economic success. Much of the success of the 1990s came from developments in computer technology. Economic growth was strong and unemployment was low. -
New Conflicts
As the Cold War was coming to an end, the United States faced a new conflict in the Middle East. Iraq, led by dictator Saddam Hussein, attacked neighboring Kuwait in August 1990. The invasion troubled the United States in part because Iraq seemed to threaten the oil supplies produced by Kuwait and nearby Saudi Arabia. -
The Soviet Union Collapses
In August 1991 hard-line Communist Party leaders sought to end Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms and preserve the Soviet Union by taking over the Soviet government in a coup d'état. After more than 40 years of tension and conflict, the Cold War was finally over. -
Conflict in Yugoslavia
Feelings of nationalism in Yugoslavia republics grew as ethnic and religious tensions increased.The Most violent of these wars took place in the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which declared its independence formYugoslavia in 1992 -
The European Union
Ongoing efforts to build an economic and political union among the nations of Europe resulted in the establishment o the European Union in 1992. In recent years a number of Eastern European nations and former Soviet republics have joined the EU, and others are scheduled to join in 2007. -
Economic Changes
In Russia, the largest republic, Boris Yeltsin began a massive campaign to alter the economy's basic structure. Early results of Russia reforms were mixed. By the early 2000s Russia had rebounded somewhat from the economic crises that came with market reform.
