Contemporary
Gulf War 1990-1991: Kuwait Invaded and Operation Desert Storm
A US-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait and restored its government, but Saddam Hussein remained in power in Baghdad.
Region
Middle East
Contemporary
Oslo Accords 1993: Rabin, Arafat and the Israeli-Palestinian Deal
Israel and the PLO recognised each other and agreed on a five-year interim period of Palestinian self-rule, but the final-status issues were never resolved.
Contemporary
Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (1995): Murder at a Peace Rally
Rabin died of his wounds the same night; Shimon Peres succeeded him, and the Oslo peace process lost its leading Israeli champion.
Contemporary
Second Intifada 2000-2005: The Al-Aqsa Uprising and Its Toll
The uprising ended without a peace settlement after roughly 3,000 Palestinian and 1,000 Israeli deaths; it left the Oslo process in ruins and led to the West Bank barrier and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
Contemporary
Iraq War 2003: The Invasion of Iraq and the Fall of Saddam
The invasion toppled Saddam Hussein within weeks, but no weapons of mass destruction were found and Iraq descended into insurgency and sectarian war before US forces left in 2011.
Contemporary
2003 Bam Earthquake: The Destruction of an Ancient Iranian City
About 26,000 people were killed, most of the city destroyed and the Arg-e Bam citadel badly damaged; Bam was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in danger in 2004.
Contemporary
Arab Spring (2010-2012): Uprisings Across the Middle East
Four long-ruling leaders fell, but only Tunisia made a lasting, if fragile, transition to democracy; Libya, Yemen and Syria descended into civil war.
Contemporary
Egyptian Revolution of 2011: Tahrir Square and Mubarak's Fall
Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 and handed power to the army; a troubled transition ended with the military's removal of President Morsi in July 2013.
Contemporary
Syrian Civil War: From the 2011 Uprising to the Fall of Assad
After more than 13 years of war, an estimated 500,000-600,000 deaths and the displacement of over half the population, the Assad government collapsed on 8 December 2024.
Contemporary
Rise of ISIS (2014): The Islamic State Caliphate in Iraq, Syria
ISIS ruled a self-declared caliphate across much of Iraq and Syria for nearly five years before an international coalition and local forces destroyed it in 2019; it survives as an insurgent network with affiliates abroad.
Contemporary
European Migrant Crisis (2015): Refugees and Europe's Response
Over a million people reached the EU in 2015; border fences, the closure of the Balkan route and the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016 sharply reduced arrivals.
Contemporary
Beirut Port Explosion (2020): Ammonium Nitrate Blast in Lebanon
At least 218 people were killed, about 7,000 injured and some 300,000 left homeless; the government resigned, but the judicial investigation was repeatedly blocked.