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An interactive timeline of the events that marked the end of the Cold War.

Interactive Timeline: Events of the End of the Cold War

Andrei Kozyrev

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As the Soviet Union disintegrated, the region stood on the brink of chaos, and it took legendary feats of statesmanship to keep the peace. As Russia's foreign minister under Boris Yeltsin, I was there every step of the way.

Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet Union, the CIS, and Me

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Nathan Farb traveled to Novosibirsk with the United States Information Agency’s (USIA) Photography USA exhibit in 1977 and returned with several hundred studio portraits – a unique collection of images from a country that was United States’ greatest enemy.

Portraits from the Détente Era

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As the Soviet Union crumbled, Mikhail Gorbachev sought foreign grants and loans to enable the transition to a free market economy. Only in December 1991, when he resigned and the Soviet Union morphed into 12 republics, did President George H.W. Bush send a major economic support package to Congress.

The Hesitant U.S. Rescue of the Soviet Economy

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The discovery of her great-grandfather’s name in an online database of Stalin's victims led Izabella Tabarovsky on a journey to explore and honor his life, while considering the personal and national consequences of the silence that continues to envelop repressions in Russia. 

The Price of Silence: Family Memory of Stalin's Repressions

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As the communist world was crumbling, China stood alone. Stapleton Roy, former US Ambassador to China, gives insight into his post to Beijing 25 years ago and the global geopolitical currents that were roiling at the time.

The Communist Domino That Would Not Fall: China’s Resilience at the End of the Cold War 

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Their parents and grandparents fought Castro for half a century. Now these young Americans are helping bring United States-Cuba relations out of the Cold War’s long, dark shadow.

Cuba and America, the Next Generation

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July 2017 marks exactly 40 years since the Photography USA exhibit came to my hometown of Novosibirsk, in what was then the USSR. It was part of one of the most successful hearts-and-minds campaigns the United States has ever undertaken.

Walking in Each Other’s Shoes, Through the Iron Curtain and Back

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Forty years ago, a group of young Americans traveled to the Soviet Union to serve as guides for the Photography USA exhibit, one of dozens of traveling shows organized by the U.S. during the Cold War. Here are their recollections, in their own words, of those eye-opening days.

“A Tribe of Exhibit People”: American Guides Recall Soviet Journey

As we enter a new cycle of tension between two of the world’s great powers, we look back 25 years later with renewed awareness of the reverberations and impact of the Cold War. 