1. The End of the Cold War… But The Fight Remains

2. Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1992) perestroika: “restructuring” of economic policy, as shifts made to a market economy with free enterprise glasnost: “opening” of government, allowing people the ability to openly criticize government (free speech) Gorbachev’s policies of reform led to increased nationalism in satellite countries under Soviet control 1991/1992: former Soviet republics voted for individual independence (Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, etc.) = the formal end of Soviet Union & Cold War communist leadership worried about effect & planned a coup to force Gorbachev from power…instead Boris Yeltsin led resistance of coup & gained control of Soviet Union Yeltsin: 1st President of Russia…huge problems with the economy & organized crime!

3. Mikhail Gorbachev & Boris Yeltsin

4. Reunification of Germany November 9, 1989: the symbol of the “Iron Curtain,” the Berlin Wall fell, ending communism in East Germany October 3, 1990: East & West Germany reunified…with struggles to combine the formerly communist East with the established capitalist West

5. Czechoslovakia & Yugoslavia 1989: communist government of Czechoslovakia collapsed 1993: peaceful split between Czech Republic & Slovakia 1987: Slobodan Milosevic (ruler of Yugoslavia) refused ethnic groups to form their own states 1991: Slovenia & Croatia declared their independence, leading to a war with Serbia 1992: Bosnia-Herzegovina declared their independence, starting another war with Serbia –Bosnians are mostly Muslim…so Serbs began practicing ethnic cleansing 1995: peace treaty signed, making Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia-Herzegovina free from Serbia 1998-1999: another Serbian war erupts with Kosovo…ending with NATO bombings Milosevic arrested & tried for crimes against humanity by International Criminal Court…died in prison

6. Slobodan Milosevic & Wars in Yugoslavia

7. Social Trends post-Cold War world has replaced the fight(s) against communism with the fight(s) against terrorism: –IRA (Irish Republican Army) in the United Kingdom –the Basque movement (Catalonia) in Spain –the Tamils in Sri Lanka –Al Qaeda & the Taliban: September 11 th, 2001 debates over the ethics of science to manipulate nature (i.e. global warming, organic foods, nuclear pollution, etc.) art has come to focus on the abstract (Jackson Pollock) & popular culture (Andy Warhol) movies, television, music & the internet became the way to spread popular American culture around the world sports had become a vehicle for national pride (World Cup) & politics (Olympics)