Katana VentraIP

Post–Cold War era

The post–Cold War era is a period of history that follows the end of the Cold War, which represents history after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. This period saw many former Soviet republics become sovereign nations, as well as the introduction of market economies in eastern Europe. This period also marked the United States becoming the world's sole superpower.

For the main trends, see International relations since 1989.

Relative to the Cold War, the period is characterized by stabilization and disarmament. Both the United States and Russia significantly reduced their nuclear stockpiles. The former Eastern Bloc became democratic and was integrated into world economy. Most of former Soviet satellites and three former Baltic Republics were integrated into the European Union and NATO. In the first two decades of the period, NATO underwent three series of enlargement and France reintegrated into the NATO command.


Russia formed CSTO to replace the dissolved Warsaw Pact, established strategic partnership with China and several other countries, and entered the non-military organizations SCO and BRICS. Both latter organizations included China, which is a fast rising power. Reacting on the rise of China, the Obama administration rebalanced strategic forces to the Asia-Pacific region.


Major crises of the period included the Gulf War, Yugoslav Wars, the First and Second Congo Wars, First and Second Chechen War, September 11 attacks, War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), Iraq War, Russo-Georgian War and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Two other ongoing wars, the Syrian Civil War and the 2023 Israel-Hamas War, are widely described as a series of overlapping proxy wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the US and Russia.


With the coming to power of Vladimir Putin, Russia gradually became more authoritarian and its foreign policy more aggressive. This resulted in deterioration of relations with the Western world. The deterioration culminated with sanctions, military aid to Ukraine, international isolation, and a prospect of further NATO enlargement.

International relations since 1989

Second Cold War

Cold War

Middle-Eastern Cold War

AI Arms Race

Arms race

Nuclear arms race

Digital Revolution

Postmodernism

War on terror

Cold peace

Interwar period

Road to Now

Aziz, Nusrate, and M. Niaz Asadullah. "Military spending, armed conflict and economic growth in developing countries in the post–Cold War era." Journal of Economic Studies 44.1 (2017): 47-68.

Bartel, Fritz (2022). . Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674976788.

The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism

Henriksen, Thomas H. Cycles in US Foreign Policy Since the Cold War (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

Jones, Bruce D., and Stephen John Stedman. "Civil Wars & the Post–Cold War International Order." Dædalus 146#4 (2017): 33-44.

Menon, Rajan, and Eugene B. Rumer, eds. Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post–Cold War Order (MIT Press, 2015).

Peterson, James W. Russian-American relations in the post–Cold War world (Oxford UP, 2017).

Sakwa, Richard. Russia against the Rest: The Post–Cold War Crisis of World Order (Cambridge UP, 2017) 362pp

online review

Wood, Luke B. "The politics of identity and security in post–Cold War Western and Central Europe." European Politics and Society 18.4 (2017): 552-556.