| 1973 | 1990–1991 |
| Yom Kippur War; OPEC oil embargo | Persian Gulf War |
| 1979 | 1991 |
| Islamic revolution in Iran; second oil shock | Congress Party in India embraces Western capitalist reforms |
| 1980 | 1991–2001 |
| Rhodesian white minority rulers surrender power and the nation is renamed Zimbabwe | Civil war in Yugoslavia |
| 1980–1988 | 1993 |
| Iran-Iraq War | Formation of European Union |
| 1982 | 1994 |
| Falklands (or Malvinas) War leads to the collapse of the Argentine junta | North American Free Trade Agreement goes into effect between Canada, Mexico, and the United States |
| 1985 | 1994 |
| Glasnost leads to greater freedom of speech and expression in the Soviet Union | Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa |
| 1987 | 2003–2011 |
| Palestinian intifada | Second Persian Gulf War |
| 1989 | 2007 |
| Collapse of Berlin Wall; “NO” campaign in Chile; Tiananmen Square protests suppressed in China | Hamas seizes control of Gaza Strip from Palestinian Authority |
| 1989–1991 | 2009–2014 |
| Fall of communism in Soviet Union and eastern Europe | Popular uprisings and protests across the Middle East |