September 4 – Sverdlovsk's name is restored to its pre-communist–era name Yekaterinburg. Two days later, Leningrad is renamed St. Petersburg. [219] [220] October 29 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid. [275] [276] Dec 21 Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States Lebanon Hostage Crisis: Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years of captivity as a hostage in Beirut – the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon. [303] [304]

Fatos Nano resigns as Prime Minister of Albania following a nationwide strike. President of Albania Ramiz Alia appoints Ylli Bufi as his successor. [139] [140] July 25 – British astronomers announce they have found what appears to be an extrasolar planet. [185] Canada (1993). Transboundary Air Pollution: Agreement Between the United States of America and Canada, Signed at Ottawa March 13, 1991 with Annexes. Department of State. p.18.April 2 – Government-imposed prices increase double or triple the cost of consumer goods in the Soviet Union. [85] [86] This makes collecting ethnicity data, and measuring changes over time, challenging. 1960s: nationality over ethnicity Peirce, Gareth (12 March 2011). "The Birmingham Six: Have we learned from our disgraceful past?". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 November 2018.

In 1975, the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys did some research into ethnicity in preparation for the 1981 Census. The aim was to: While it was undoubtedly the case that capitalism got through its mid-century crises through judicious state intervention, it seems to have prospered over the last couple of decades through the steady weakening of state controls. Erstwhile social democrat parties have come to respect if not yet quite love the free market. The most formidable opponents of capitalism are now to be found among precisely those elements against which socialists once recoiled in horror - romantic nationalists and religious fundamentalists, both in their own ways seeking to preserve spiritual values in the face of a materialist onslaught. December 16 – The UN General Assembly adopts UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86, repealing a previous resolution adopted in 1975 which had ruled that Zionism is a form of racism. [314]Boris Yeltsin wins first free elections for Russia's first popularly-elected president Bangladesh Cyclone Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (1997). Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: yearbook. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p.4. ISBN 90-411-0439-9. A video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. Four Los Angeles police officers are indicted on March 15 for the beating. [60] [61] Aug 19 Richard Maltby Sr., American musician and orchestra leader ("(Themes from) The Man with the Golden Arm"; Vaughn Monroe Show), dies at 77 December 11 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Croatian forces kill 18 Serbs and one Hungarian in the village of Paulin Dvor, Croatia. [308]

Greenhouse, Steven (1991-01-01). "Czechs Begin Shift to a Free Market". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-08-18. The Race Disparity Unit is also researching how different government services ask users about their ethnicity.

The experience of the Twentieth Century has undermined confidence in the state, and this has reinforced the contrary philosophy of liberal individualism against which Hobsbawm wishes to argue. To those of this contrary persuasion, not only has the state's potential for good hardly been fully realised, but also that economic growth has come in spite of the state. Certainly we have been left in no doubt of the malign role of the state when its means of violence are turned against its own people, or against another, equally endowed state, in a cataclysmic war. Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Georgia votes for independence from the Soviet Union while on April 9, the Supreme Council declares the independent Republic of Georgia.

Iran–Contra affair: Alan Fiers agrees to plead guilty to two charges of lying to the U.S. Congress. Later on September 16, D.C. Judge Gerhard Gesell issues a ruling clearing Col. Oliver North of all charges. [174] [175] a b Geraghty, Tony (2000). The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence. HarperCollins. p.193. ISBN 978-0-00-638674-2.August 30 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Moldova declares independence from the Soviet Union, followed by Azerbaijan. [216] August 23 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Russia restores the white-blue-red tricolour as its national flag. [208] Dissolution of the Soviet Union: In a national referendum, 77% of voters in the Soviet Union vote in favor of keeping the 15 Soviet republics together; six Union Republics effectively boycott the referendum. [74] [75]