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The Nineties was a decade of massive changes, both in the world and in the U.S. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in December of 1991, the Cold War breathed its last breath, and the U.S. was left to navigate a new world order in which it stood as the lone superpower. Yet even before the Soviet Union fell, wars shattered the hope that the new era would be an era of peace. The U.S. and coalition partners drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm in early 1991, and several months later, Yugoslavia disintegrated into civil war. In 1993, Somali insurgents shot down three U.S. Black Hawk helicopters that had originally been part of a humanitarian effort in response to famine in Somalia. The attack on the American aircraft marked the start of the Battle of Mogadishu.

Along with war came devastating cases of genocide. In 1994, nearly one million men, women, and children, mostly Tutsis, were slaughtered by their Hutu countrymen in Rwanda. A year later, Serbian troops massacred more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica. These instances of genocide illustrated the ugly side of post-Cold War nationalism.

In addition to geopolitical changes, technological developments were a hallmark of the Nineties. The decade introduced the 24-hour news cycle, and the advance of the internet, which radically transformed how people consumed information and set the stage for the rise of social media and infotainment. Genetic experimentation resulted in the start of the human genome project and the launch of the Hubble telescope. Cloning projects gave us Dolly the sheep and the flavr savr tomato. While the space race at one time defined Cold War competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, in the Nineties, American and Russian scientists and astronauts worked together on the international space station.

Life in the U.S. was a study in contrasts. The decade began with the elder statesman George H.W. Bush in the White House, but the 1992 election landed Bill Clinton in the Oval Office, thanks in part to the third-party candidate H. Ross Perot, who won some votes that might otherwise have gone to Bush. Despite Clinton’s numerous infidelities, including an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky that contributed to his impeachment, he left office after two terms with a high approval rating. Yet while Clinton, a Democrat, held the White House for most of the Nineties, the decade also ushered in the Republican Revolution of 1994. As a result of the midterm elections, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952. At the forefront of the Republican ascendancy was Georgia representative Newt Gingrich, whose political tactics set the tone for the rhetoric of Tea Party and MAGA Republicans. Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh became the public spokesman for some right-wing Americans.

Domestic terrorism and violence marked American society through events such as the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco, the activities of the Unabomber, and the Columbine school shooting. In perpetrating the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Timothy McVeigh came to symbolize the phenomenon of the “angry white man.” Video footage of Los Angeles police officers beating motorist Rodney King brought America’s still unresolved racial strife into homes across the country via cable news. When the officers were acquitted, LA exploded into a massive riot that revealed the complexity of racial and ethnic tensions in a diverse city. When OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife, some Black Angelenos saw the verdict as payback for the Rodney King case.

Pop culture in the 1990s reflected the irony that characterized the decade. TV shows including “Beavis and Butthead,” “South Park,” “Family Guy,” and “The Simpsons” became cultural touchstones. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other grunge bands produced one side of the decade’s soundtrack, while Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, TLC, and Mariah Carey performed the other side. Everyone danced the Macarena at some point. Alanis Morissette became the voice of the “angry white female” according to Rolling Stone. Titanic broke all kinds of records and transformed filmmaking.

As the Nineties came to an end, the world nervously watched the countdown to Y2K. Would the world end when the numbers rolled over to 00? It didn’t, but the new century brought its own changes to the U.S. and the world. So we ask you this: Was the decade of the 1990s the end of the 20th century or the beginning of the 21st?