Outline of the Cold War
End of the Cold War – While many observers state the 1989 Malta Summit was the end of the Cold War, it was December 1991 before the Presidents of the United States and the Soviet Union formally recognised the conflict's end, with the Soviet Union also being dissolved at that time. Some key events leading up to the end include:
Presidency of George H. W. Bush
The Soviet Union and the United States had generally been considered the two superpowers of the Cold War era; with the collapse of the Soviet Union, some began to label the United States as a "hyperpower". Political scientist Francis Fukuyama speculated that humanity had reached the "end of history" in that liberal, capitalist democracy had permanently triumphed over Communism and fascism. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union and other Communist governments led to conflicts in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. The Yugoslav Wars broke out in 1991 as several constituent republics of Yugoslavia sought independence, and the Bush administration supported relief efforts and European-led attempts to broker peace.