[Stateside Twins' Eyeshot] Visions of Things to Be

1990 - Boris Yeltsin becomes president of the Russian Republic, while East and West Germany are united. US-led coalition forces begin Operation Desert Shield to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraq, and Warren Beatty directs, produces and plays the lead role in the film "Dick Tracy". Iraq invades Kuwait, beginning the Persian Gulf War, and Lech Walesa wins the first direct presidential election in Poland's history.

Yeltsin came to power with a wave of high expectations. On 12 June 1991 he was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president. But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s.