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Dmitry Medvedev

2008 became president of Russia. Putin could not run for reelection because of limits in Russia's constitution, but he became prime minister. However, since Russia's constitution limits only consecutive terms, Putin was able to run again—and win the presidency. Putin will be eligible to run for reelection in 2018.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

the Congress of People's Deputies

In 1988, Gorbachev encouraged a new parliament within his country called

one-child policy

Incentives such as education benefits, child care, and housing were offered to couples who limited their families to one child. Athough criticized as oppressive, the policy has continued through the 2000s, with a few exceptions for rural areas and some minorities.

Christian Democratic Union of Helmut Kohl

Kohl was a smart politician who benefited greatly from an economic boom in the mid-1980s. Then events in East Germany led to the unexpected reunification of the two Germanies in 1990.

Slobodan Milosevic

Leader of Serbia, rejected efforts toward independence. In Miloševic's view, the republics' borders first needed to be redrawn to form a new Greater Serbian state. When negotiations failed, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence in June 1991

Fukushima Daiichi

Major earthquake and 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactor. created the worst nuclear disaster since the accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986. Leaks of radioactive gas into the atmosphere not only endangered the lives of many Japanese but also brought threats of radioactive contamination to Japan's food supplies. Japanese officials worked overtime to contain the damage.

Kosovo Liberation Army

Military organization formed in 1998 by Kosovar militants who sought independence from Serbia. To crush the KLA, Serb forces massacred ethnic Albanians. The United States and NATO allies worked on a settlement that would end the killing. The Albanians in Kosovo regained their autonomy in 1999. Miloševic's rule ended in 2000. While on trial for his role in the massacre of Kosovo civilians, Miloševic died in 2006.

Strategic Defense Initiative

Popularly known as "Star Wars," President Reagan's SDI proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense system capable of destroying enemy missiles in outer spaced. Critics claimed that SDI could never be perfected.

Tiananmen Square

Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.

Czechoslovakia

The Czechs and Slovaks agreed to a peaceful division of.... which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

perestroika

The fundamental restructuring of the Soviet economy; a policy introduced by Gorbachev

Boris Yeltsin

Was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history—a period marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 Yeltsin came to power on a wave of high expectations. On June 12 Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president in Russian history. But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after endorsing radical economic reforms in early 1992 which were widely blamed for devastating the living standards of most of the Russian population. By the time he left office, Yeltsin was a deeply unpopular figure in Russia, with an approval rating as low as two percent by some estimates.

Angela Merkel

leader of the Christian Democrats, became the first female chancellor in German history.

The Berlin Wall

long a symbol of the Cold War, was torn down. The reunification of Germany took place on October 3, 1990

Lech Wałesa

organized a powerful national trade union known as Solidarity. In December 1990, was chosen as president

François Hollande

pres, socialist

Nicolas Sarkozy

president in 2007.

cultural imperialism

referring to Western nations' control of other world cultures similar to how they had controlled colonial governments

Margaret Thatcher

resigned as prime minister in 1990, the Conservative Party, now led by John Major, failed to capture the imagination of most Britons. In new elections in 1997, the Labour Party won a landslide victory. Moderate Tony Blair became prime minister. However, his ongoing support of the U.S. war in Iraq, when most Britons opposed it, caused his popularity to plummet. Another member of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown, became prime minister in June 2007. New elections in May 2010 led to Conservative David Cameron's becoming prime minister.

Nicolae Ceauşescu

ruled Romania with an iron grip, using secret police to crush all dissent. Nonetheless, opposition grew. His economic policies led to a sharp drop in living standards. Food shortages caused rationing. In December 1989, the secret police murdered thousands of people who were peacefully demonstrating. Finally, the army refused to support any more repression. Ceauşescu and his wife were captured and executed. A new government was quickly formed.

The Reagan Revolution

sent U.S. policy in new directions. Reagan reduced welfare policies by cutting spending on food stamps, school lunch programs, and job programs. At the same time, Reagan oversaw the largest peacetime military buildup in U.S. history.

Czechoslovakian reform movement of 1968

the Soviets crushed and then repressed it

Deng Xiaoping

the new Chinese government after the death of Mao Zedong called for Four Modernizations—new policies in industry, agriculture, technology, and national defense.

Vladimir Putin

was elected president in 2000. Putin, a former KGB officer, was widely seen as someone who wanted to keep a tight rein on government power. In July 2001, Putin launched reforms to boost growth and budget revenues. The reforms included the free sale and purchase of land and tax cuts. In spite of these changes, the business climate remained uncertain, which stifled foreign investment. Since Putin's reforms, Russia has experienced a budget surplus and a growing economy. Russia can attribute much of its economic growth to its oil and gas exports

Toyota

was faced with quality problems in its best-selling fleet of cars.

Tibet

where the Chinese government has violently suppressed Tibetan culture.

European Community

which was chiefly an economic union

Abstractionism

dominated modern art after 1945 and reflected Western culture's search for meaning during a period of rapid social and technological change.

popular culture

entertainment created for a profit and for a mass audience

EU

first goals was to establish a common currency, the euro.

Asian financial crises of 1997

following the collapse of Taiwan's banking industry.

Jacques Chirac

france was president from 1995 to 2007.

Yugoslavia

had a Communist government but was never a Soviet satellite state. After World War II, its dictatorial leader, Josip Broz Tito, worked to keep together the six republics and two provinces that made up Yugoslavia. By 1990, however, the Communist Party collapsed

Social Democrats

had little success in solving Germany's economic woes

Erich Honecker

head of the Communist Party in East Germany, ruled harshly. While many East Germans fled their country, others led mass demonstrations against the regime in 1989

Solidarity

gained the support of the Roman Catholic Church and its leader, Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope. The pope's vocal support for Solidarity and freedom in Eastern Europe helped the independence movement, even after Walesa was arrested. Finally, in 1988, the Polish regime agreed to free parliamentary elections—the first free elections in Eastern Europe in 40 years. A new government was elected, ending 45 years of Communist rule.

the Intermediate-Range INF Treaty

a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union that eliminated some weapons systems and allowed for on-site inspection of military installations

glasnost

a Soviet policy permitting open discussion of political and social issues

ethnic cleansing

a policy of killing or forcibly removing an ethnic group from its lands; used by the Serbs against the Muslim minority in Bosnia

Chechnya

a province in the south that wanted to secede from Russia and become independent

Václav Havel

a writer who had played an important role in bringing down the Communist government, became the new president.

Japan

became the greatest exporting nation in the world. It also developed the world's largest economy after that of the United States.

postmodernism

blending elements of film, performance, popular culture, and sculpture. Both of these art movements conveyed universal themes, such as purity or self-awareness