Chapter 33

1. 1989-Present
The End of
History?

2. ”Everything was forever, until it was no more.”
This is a quote from Alexei Yurchak, a Professor of Anthropology and author, from St. Petersburg, Russia
who lived through the end of communism before immigrating to the US.
He recounts that people living during what he calls “late socialism” in the Soviet Union (1950-1991) had
reserved themselves to the fact that the Soviet system wasn’t working, but that everyone accepted the
official party stance that everything was fine and functioning normally. He calls this ”hypernormalization.”
In a one-party state, people thought that the Soviet Union (or communism in other countries) would last
forever.
When communism collapsed so quickly, no one was expecting it, but no one was surprised.
By November 1990, delegates from the US, USSR, and 22 other countries met and agreed to recognize the
independence and borders of the former Soviet states.
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3. These countries on this map were all independent
after 1991. Purple areas are currently disputed.

4. New Countries, New Issues
The Soviet Union disintegrated into the following countries after the collapse:
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (the Baltic countries)
Belarus, Ukraine, Russia
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia (the Caucuses countries)
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan (the Central Asian republics)
The creation of these new states with new borders resulted in many areas that are politically complicated.
There are disputed territories between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and many smaller regions within modern
Russia had initially sought independence (such as Chechnya) but were denied independence. Recently,
disputes have arisen between Russia and Georgia (the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have essentially
been occupied by Russia since 2008), and Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine have also been militarily
occupied by Russia since 2014.
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5. Russia after 1989
Boris Yeltsin was the President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist
Republic (the Russian part of the USSR) in 1990. He was a reform-minded
member of the Communist party and did not get along with Gorbachev.
He withdrew from the Soviet Union, dissolved the Communist party in Russia, and
fired many in the government.
When Russia withdrew from the Soviet Union the country underwent a rapid
transition to a free-market economy. It was brutal. Inflation skyrocketed,
privatization of industry was unfair, and friends of the new government were
able to take control of major industries and make tons of money by increasing
costs (this was the beginning of many of the Oligarchs in Russia today).
Corruption in government persisted, a holdover from communism, and was
strengthened by the terrible economy.
Boris Yeltsin was a great person to lead Russia out of the USSR, but he wasn’t
great at running the country, and he left office in 1999 with the economy
floundering and the standard of living pretty low. His hand-picked successor,
Vladimir Putin, promised to return Russia to greatness.
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6. Russia since 1999
Vladimir Putin is a former KGB agent, who had served in East Germany. Under
the Yeltsin administration he served as the head of the FSB (the security agency
that replaced the KGB) then he served as Prime Minister.
In 2000 he was elected President. He served as President for two terms from
2000-2008. He then became Prime Minister from 2008-2012, swapping positions
with his former Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev. While the PM, Putin oversaw a
change in the laws that would extend the Presidential term from four to six
years. Putin was then elected President again in 2012 (Russian law at the time
only allowed people to serve two consecutive terms, but unlike the US, Presidents
can serve unlimited terms in their lifetime, as long as no more than 2 are
consecutive). He was elected to a second 6 year term in 2018. Recently, Putin has
proposed an amendment to the Russian constitution that would allow him to
remain as president for another two terms (12 more years) after his current
term is up in 2024. If this referendum passes, Putin will likely serve as the
leader of Russia, as he has since 2000, until 2036 (at least).
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7. Putin is a conservative, nationalist leader,
with close ties to the Russian Orthodox
Church.
He is popular with a majority of Russians
because he asserts the importance of Russia,
and uses any means he can to try to retain
international power.
This has included military intervention in
other countries (Georgia in 2008, Ukraine in
2013/14). It has also included meddling in
foreign elections, namely the US in 2016.
Oppresses dissent by other political parties
in Russia to ensure his party’s continued
success.
Very oppressive towards LGBTQ+ rights in
Russia.
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8. Before you ask…
I’ve been studying Russia/Eastern Europe for
over 17 years. Vladimir Putin does not care who
the US President is. What he wanted from
meddling in the elections in 2016 was a divided
US, and therefore a weakened US. A weak US
helps Russia become stronger. That is all. Side
note, you can bet he’ll do it again. He will do
anything to bring more international power to
Russia.
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9. Elsewhere in Europe
after 1989
We’ve spent too much time on Russia…

10. Yugoslavia
> Reminder: Yugoslavia was a conglomeration of states that formed a country after
WWI, thinking that they would be better off together than as small countries apart.
> In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic was elected president of the Serbian part of Yugoslavia.
> He was a Serbian ultra-nationalist and wanted Serbians to dominate.
> In 1991 Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence from Yugoslavia
> Milosevic sends troops to try to keep them from leaving
> Then Macedonia also declares independence
> In 1992 Bosnia-Herzegovina declares independence
> This sparked a war between Croatians, Bosnians, and Serbians over contested
borders from 1991-1995. Added to this tension Croatians are predominantly Catholic,
Serbians are Orthodox Christian, and Bosnia has a large Muslim population from the
Ottoman period.
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11. Ethnic/Religious
Map of Yugoslavia
in 1991
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12. Yugoslavia (cont.)
> Serbian paramilitary groups were particularly brutal during the fighting
> By 1995 international public opinion swayed the UN to allow NATO air strikes
> This resulted in the Dayton Agreement in December 1995
- Created Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Preserved what remained of Yugoslavia for the time being
- Allowed the Serbian majority to attempt to prevent the independence
of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo (a region historically important
to Serbians)
> By 1998 around 300,000 ethnic Albanians were forced to flee their homes.
Serbian paramilitary groups engaged in violent ethnic cleansing, again.
> By 1999 diplomatic negotiations to end the violence failed, and NATO began
airstrikes again, ending most of the violence.
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13. > Slobodan Milosevic remained in power until 2000
- He was voted out by people tired of the corrupt government,
then extradited to the Netherlands, where he was put on trial
for Crimes against Humanity
- He died while on trial in 2006.
> Montenegro declared independence in 2006
> Kosovo declared independence in 2008 (though it is still not
recognized by many nations)
> This left only Serbia remaining in Yugoslavia, rendering it pointless.
The end of Yugoslavia
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14. 14

15. Czechoslovakia (like Yugoslavia, but…not)
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• Like Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia was formed as a multi-ethnic state after WWI
• After the collapse of communism, government price controls helped transition to democracy
• By 1992 the country was on relatively good economic footing, and nationalist tensions began
to arise between ethnic Czechs and ethnic Slovaks in politics and society
• In 1993 the Czechoslovak parliament decided to peacefully separate into two separate
countries, the Czech Republic (also now known as Czechia) and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)

16. Former communist countries in Europe all
sought closer ties to Western Europe and the
US, with many joining NATO and the EU.
Belarus is a notable exceptions, and basically
only functions as a satellite to Russia.
Ukraine has sought ties to the US and
Western Europe, but these efforts are often
thwarted by Russia, and have especially been
strained since the Russian occupation of
Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine. When
Russia invaded, the EU, NATO, and the US did
nothing to stop Russia.
Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan have close
ties with Western Europe and NATO
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Other Post-Communist States
The Central Asian Republics still have
significant ties to Russia, though some have
sought ties to China. During the war in
Afghanistan, the US had bases in Uzbekistan
and Kyrgyzstan, but they have since closed.

17. > The EU was officially created in 1992 to promote better economic and
political cooperation in Europe.
- The EU requires extensive cooperation and coordination of each
member nation’s economic policies, and some social policies.
- Decisions made by the EU must be ratified by all national
governments.
> With the increasing trend towards nationalist and populist governments
in Europe in the last 10 years, the EU has struggled
- The most extreme case of anti-EU sentiment was Brexit, when
Great Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016
- Brexit has still not fully occurred, however by 2020
The EU
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18. Other Global Trends since 1991
Radical Islam
Increasingly after 1991 a new
threat to global stability arose,
Radical Islam. Most notably the
September 11, 2001 attacks in
the US, but also global attacks
in Spain, the UK, Pakistan, and
in Africa have all been tied to an
increase in radical Islamic
movements. The largest known,
currently active organization is
ISIS/ISIL which the US, Russia,
and others are still fighting in
parts of Iraq and Syria.
Urbanization
In 2000, 50% of the world’s
population lived in cities. By
2017, there were 59 global
megacities (cities with 5 million
inhabitants or more).
Environmentalism
This movement began to be
widespread starting in the
1970s, but has recently
expanded due to the global
impacts of Climate Change. The
global trend towards populist
governments has slowed
international efforts.
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Migration
Closely tied to Urbanization, is
Migration. Global migration has
seen numerous waves to more
developed countries after
disruptive events (wars,
revolutions, etc.) Recently,
since around 2015, migration
policies have been increasingly
restrictive to Europe, the US,
and developed areas of Asia.
Social Movements
Women’s rights, children’s
rights, and LGBTQ+ rights
movements have all seen
expansions since the 1990s.

19. Globalization
The last major trend to address in our text,
and in this course, is Globalization.
For an overview of Globalization, please
watch the two Crash Course videos below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnR-
e0S6Ic&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=4
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_iwrt7
D5OA&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=42
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20. The End of History?
This is the title of this section in the
textbook. It refers to the the era of
uncertainty following the collapse of the
USSR, but it can also be related to the field
of history itself.
Historians are often hesitant to historically
analyze the the most recent 20 years of our
past. We tend to leave this period to other
fields (journalism, sociology, anthropology,
human geography, etc.)
From inside the discipline of history we have
essentially reached “The End,” though
history is always valuable for viewing
current events.
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Thank You for a
Great Class
Be sure to complete any work you
have left before the final day of
classes. If you have questions or
concerns, email me.