Soviet Union dissolves (1991)

Yeah, it certainly did. And instead of a new great experiment in democracy it looks like we have a great new experiment in organized crime. And with the appearance, at the very least, of the capo to end all capo's as head of state.

The powers-that-be don't seem to want to talk about it too much anymore. Say what you will about Communism (post-Kruschev Communism anyway), but it did provide a certain dull stability. Now people are getting shot in the streets (including American journalists and businessmen), organized crime has grown to a size and influence that Al Capone in 1920's Chicago would envy, and age-old ethnic antagonisms have exploded into violence. "Tear down this wall!" indeed!

The more it fades in the rear-view mirror, the more it seems that the economic and political collapse of the USSR doesn't seem like this impossible-I-can't-believe-it-scenario. . .the core was rotting for a long time and lousy empires eventually fall. . .

And it happened without a shot being fired. No one who grew up during the Cold War would have anticipated that happening.

This is probably the most important event of the last quarter century. Think now, what would you rather have. Insurgent Islamists in that area of the world or Soviet Power? I know what I would want!

I'm in total agreement with Bobblehead. It's about time the Soviet Bloc got a dose of democracy.

I hope those Communists learned their lesson.

I am a Socialist, and do not support this at all. Russia is now in more dire straits than it was under the Soviet system. Gorbachev knew what he was doing. Putin was an idiot.

Quite possibly the most important event of not just the 1990's, but of the 20th Century, which was defined by enormous ideological struggles: Liberal Democracy versus Facism versus Communism. It was a period that began with intense nationalism that later gave way to increasing interdependence and globalization by the end of the century. Although totalitarianism is and will always be evident throughout the world, 1991 saw the liberation of millions of people in Eastern Europe and Russia. It was truly a democratic revolution. Of course, there are still over a billion people living under communist rule in China, but one cannot deny that this event opened the floodgates for greater liberalization even in such states. The balance of power shifted from a bi-polar political struggle for international domination to a global order that political scientists are still trying to discern. Many argue that the US is the only power still left on the block, but many others argue that US power isn't nec... Read more

the fall of the soviet union - till today we really dont view all of its final importance. to early to see all consequences. but its for sure that a new chapter in history has started. cause the post war situation of 1945 is closed now: the rise of the US and the SU to superpowers, the fall of britain, france and germany to only middle-mights. all the other things that happened some years ago (like re-unition of germany/ the fall of the pact of warsaw) are based on the fall of the SU. so no question that this is the most important thing that happened in the 1990s. indirectly its leading to the rise of the US as the one and only superpower. its a bit funny: we all thought that the world would be paradise if the conflict between the US and the SU is finished. but today we ll see other conflicts : the upcoming conflict between the so called western world and the middle-east-islamic countries isnt thinkable without that exclusive status of the US. before imperialistic policy of both sides... Read more

Wow, not only did it desolve it changed the face of the globe. How many wars have come up from the break up-I can't spell them correctly but Chechnea, Kosovo, Uzebestan, to name a few. At least then we knew who the enemy was and were most of the bombs were-now it's anyone's guess. Now we have to worry about less sane and more fanatical leaders-the world has gotten scarier.

One of the most important events in world history. The world might be more dangerous in some ways now--mostly smaller ways--but no longer is the worst-case scenario a total extermination of the human race. We came awfully close, at least half-a-dozen times.

Given that the cold war stand-off between the west and the Soviet Union dominated the geopolitics of most of the last century this is certainly one of the most important events of the 1990s.