The 1980s were characterized by the election of conservative leaders such as Ronald Reagan , Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl , who implemented neoliberal policies ; for example , Thatcher 's government opposed the UK miners ' strike of 1984-85 . In technology , the decade yielded the personal computer and the businesses which capitalized on its rise , such as Microsoft and Apple . The transition from the 1980s to the 1990s saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union , events which prompted thinkers such as Francis Fukuyama ( in Cusset 's account ) to declare the victory of liberal democracy and free market economies over socialist governments . Cusset criticized this view as a form of ex post facto triumphalism . In technology , the 1990s saw the rise of cell phones and the internet . Although the 1990s saw a nascent wave of Left alter-globalization as demonstrated by the Zapatistas and the 1999 Seattle WTO protests , this leftward shift was cut short by the September 11 attacks , the dividing line between the 1990s and the 2000s . Technologically , the decade produced a refinement of the internet via Web 2.0
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
François Cusset