Between 1989 and 1991 the world witnessed a series of dramatic changes: the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany, the end of the superpower nuclear arms race, the demise of East-West rivalries in the Third World, and, finally, the break-up of the Soviet Union, all of which effectively ended the Cold War. This book investigates the many unanswered questions posed by sudden end of the Cold War and extracts essential lessons from our recent past in three major areas: Europe, superpower relations, and the Third World.