How the 1990s Changed the World

When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989—or 11/9—many Americans turned their attention away from foreign policy, and only re-awakened to world affairs on 9/11, even though trends that led to that day—failed states, religious extremism, terrorism—were brewing during the happy-go-lucky, self-congratulatory 1990s. Derek Chollet, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and James Goldgeier, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, brilliantly mapping the forces that shaped the post-Cold War era, discuss how the legacy of the 1990s is vital to understanding the challenges faced by the Obama administration, and why foreign policy is more difficult when it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker.