In 1991, seventy-year old former New Zealand premier Sir Robert David Muldoon announces his intention to resign from parliament and retire from public life.

Australia and New Zealand participate in the broad-based US-led international military coalition that prosecutes the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq on Kuwait’s behalf.

In 1991, seventy-year old former New Zealand premier Sir Robert David Muldoon announces his intention to resign from parliament and retire from public life.

Australia and New Zealand participate in the broad-based US-led international military coalition that prosecutes the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq on Kuwait’s behalf.

Mount Pinatubo on Luzon erupts in June, 1991, The volcano’s talc-like gray ash affects global weather for at least a year.

Two years after the Soviets withdraw, defeated, from Afghanistan, the disintegration of the Soviet Union leads the Tadzhik S.S.R.

to declare, somewhat reluctantly, full independence on Sept. 9, 1991.

Dushanbe becomes the capital of an independent Tajikistan.

Former communist strongman Rahman Nabiyev wins the November presidential election.

However, political chaos and endemic turmoil plague the new nation, as communists fight to retain power in the face of opposition from an alliance of Islamic and anticommunist forces.

During the Soviet period, the Turkmen S.S.R.

benefits from educational and health care modernization but experiences political repression.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the republic declares independence on Oct. 27, 1991, and adopts the name Turkmenistan.

The UAE provides facilities for Western military forces and contributes troops to the liberation of Kuwait in early 1991.

Later that year, the emirates also join both the United Nations and the Arab League.

Sheikh Zayid ibn Sultan al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi is elected president of the United Arab Emirates for a fifth successive five-year term.

Abu Dhabi town, whose status as the provisional UAE capital has been extended several times, is made the permanent national capital.

Saddam Hussein ignores appeals to withdraw his forces from Kuwait, despite the buildup of a large US-led military force in Saudi Arabia and the passage of United Nations resolutions condemning the occupation and authorizing the use of force to end it.

In a six-week-long war that begins on January 16, 1991, the US-led coalition defeats Iraq in the Persian Gulf War.

The US retains a large military presence in the region, specifically in Saudi Arabia.

The Gulf region remains dependent largely on the protection of the Western powers, although the GCC takes steps to increase the military capabilities of various members.

When the Iran-Iraq War makes the gulf unsafe for oil tankers in the late 1980s, ships from Europe and the United States protect shipping and clear the area of mines.

The UAE participates militarily in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Saudi Arabia purchases new weapons from abroad, increases the size of its own armed forces, and awards financial subsidies to a number of foreign governments.

Total costs in 1990-91 run as high as $64 billion.

Increased Saudi oil production and substantially higher prices in the world oil market provide some compensation for the Saudi economy.

King Fahd, while promising future reforms, makes relatively few changes in the political structure of the country.

On January 16-17, 1991, the US-led coalition, after securing advance approval from Saudi Arabia, attacks Iraq by air with some 800,000 troops (more than 540,000 from the United States).

Saudis fly more than 7,000 sorties and are prominent in the battles around the Saudi town of Ra's Al-Khafji.

In the four-day ground war that begins on February 24, Saudi troops, including the National Guard, help defeat the Iraqis and drive them out of Kuwait.