MEPX
Chapter 10 of 10All chapters
  1. 1The age of revolutions
  2. 2Industrial society
  3. 3Empire and nationalism
  4. 4The First World War
  5. 5Between the wars
  6. 6The Second World War
  7. 7Building a new order
  8. 8The Cold War
  9. 9Decolonisation and civil rights
  10. 10Since 1991

Chapter 10 of 10

Since 1991

The recent past.

After the Cold War

The Soviet Union dissolved, the European Union expanded, and China's economic rise reordered global trade within a single generation.

  • The 2001 attacks and subsequent wars shaped two decades of policy.
  • The 2008 financial crisis had lasting political consequences.

Judging the present

Contemporary events resist historical judgement because we do not yet know what they led to. Recent history is best read as an argument in progress.