Twenty years since the end of history

“What we are witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution.”
Francis Fukyama, 1989

“Imagine a war which everyone won, permanent holiday in endless sun. Peace without wisdom, one steals to achieve, relentlessly pretending to believe”
DJ Culture, the Pet Shop Boys, 1991

1990 – Iraqi troops invade Kuwait
1991 – UN authorize operation Desert Storm in response to Iraq's action in Kuwait; dissolution of the USSR; coup in Haiti removing democratically elected president
1992 – break up of Yugoslavia; signing of NAFTA; Zapatista uprising in Mexico
1993 – China tests nuclear weapons
1994 – siege of Sarajevo; genocide in Rwanda; Russia launches attack on Chechnya
1995 – continuation of Yugoslav wars; France carry out nuclear test in the Pacific
1996 – Taliban take over Afghanistan
1997 – financial crisis in emerging economies of Asia
1998 – violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo; US air strikes on Iraq
1999 – war in Kosovo - NATO air strikes against Serbia; massacres in East Timor after referendum approves independence from Indonesia, intensified fighting between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, military coup in Pakistan
2000 – election of far-right party in Austria under Jorge Haider, second intifada in Palestine, contested election of George Bush in the USA
2001 – 9/11 attacks on the world trade centre, USA and UK launch campaign in Afghanistan against the Taliban
2002 – unsuccessful US-supported coup in Venezuela against elected president Hugo Chavez, Bali bomb killing 202 people, North Korea announce that it's developing nuclear weapons
2003 – US-led invasion of Iraq without the backing of the UN, NATO take over ongoing military operations in Afghanistan
2004 – bomb attacks in Madrid killing 191
2005 – assassination of Rafik Hariri in Lebanon, France and the Netherlands vote against EU constitution, bombings in London, election of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in Iran
2006 – Hamas win election in the Palestinian authority, elections described as "extremely professional, in line with international standards, free, transparent and without violence". Hamas government not recognized by the USA and EU and aid suspended; escalation of violence in Iraq; both India and North Korea test-fire nuclear weapons, Iran announces that it has enriched uranium
2007 – Israel launches military attack in Southern Lebanon
2008 – near collapse of the world financial system - bank bail outs and nationalization, Georgian troops in South Ossetia, Russian troops in Georgia
2009 – $3 trillion US budget including range of government intervention to prop up the economy; part-nationalization of the auto industry in the USA, ousting of elected President of Honduras