The development and potential use of nuclear weapons defined the Cold War era and kept the world under the shadow…
North Korea Blows up South Korean Airliner
Someone once described the dissolution of the USSR as a typical Soviet divorce — you’re no longer married but you’re…
Negotiating the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
One of the most critical problems facing the world today is the issue of climate change. Scientists have predicted that…
Transnistria — Life in a Russian Bear Hug
Transnistria is a small breakaway state located between the Dniester River and Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine. In November 1990,…
The Strategic Defense Initiative — The Other “Star Wars”
On March 23rd, 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, signaling a massive paradigm shift in U.S. policy…
Officially Unofficial – The Opening of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)
On the first day of January 1979, the United States de-recognized the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan or…
Kopeks and Big Macs – Russia’s Move to a Market Economy
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991, the newly-formed Russian Federation took on the challenge…
The Velvet Revolution, November 1989
In 1989, change was in the air throughout all of Eastern Europe. Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika –…
1989 — A Swift Look at an Incredible Year
1989 — A year filled with magic, madness, heaven and sin. Among the defining years of the 20th century, 1989…
The 1991 Iraq War — The Battle at the UN
As an after-effect of the Iraq-Iran War which raged from 1980 to 1988, Baghdad found itself crippled by debts to…