The 1990s

New World Order

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War ushered in unprecedented optimism. Nelson Mandela's release and the Oslo Accords defined a decade of hope for peace and reconciliation.

Most Cited Figures (1990-1999)

The 1990s saw two Secretary-Generals dominate citations: Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan. Nelson Mandela's release from prison and subsequent presidency made him an iconic figure of reconciliation. The Middle East peace process brought Rabin and Arafat into focus.

RankPersonMentionsCategory
#1Boutros Boutros-Ghali1089UN Leader
#2Nelson Mandela496Civil Rights Leader
#3Kofi Annan273UN Leader
#4Shimon Peres168World Leader
#5Javier Pérez de Cuéllar142UN Leader
#6F.W. de Klerk131World Leader
#7Yasser Arafat83World Leader
#8Mikhail Gorbachev78World Leader
#9Yitzhak Rabin65World Leader
#10Pope John Paul II41Religious Figure
#11Saddam Hussein36World Leader
#12Julius Nyerere35World Leader
#13François Mitterrand33World Leader
#14Jimmy Carter20World Leader
#15Robert Mugabe18World Leader
#16Joseph Stalin18World Leader
#17Fidel Castro18World Leader
#18Vaclav Havel17World Leader
#19King Hussein15World Leader
#20Willy Brandt14World Leader

Notable Quotations

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed."
Martin Luther King Jr.Cited by Pakistan (1996)
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"The society of consumption has chilled human life with its glacial waters of selfish calculation."
Octavio PazCited by Belgium (1996)
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"In dreams begins responsibility."
W.B. YeatsCited by Canada (1996)
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"Amongst the laws that govern human societies, there is one that seems clearer and more precise than all others. If men are to remain civilized, or become so, the art of association must grow and improve at the same rate as the equality of their conditions"
Alexis de TocquevilleCited by Belgium (1994)
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"The United Nations is, and should be, a living, evolving, experimental institution. If it should ever cease to be so, it should be revolutionized or swept aside for a new approach."
Dag HammarskjöldCited by Sweden (1993)
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