ABSTRACT
The 1990s ushered in momentous changes in international politics. At
the close of the 1980s, the flood of refugees from East to West Ger-
many helped bring down the Berlin Wall, expedited the unification of
the two German states, and generated the most significant transfor-
mation in international relations since the Second World War. By
1991, the Soviet Union had also collapsed and cut off its financial
support to its client regimes throughout the Third World. As the dec-
ades-old confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union came to an abrupt end, many of the political obstacles to set-
tling the protracted conflicts of the Cold War decreased considerably.
The political transformations taking place in the developing world at
the end of the Cold War gave UNHCR an unprecedented opportunity
to resolve some of the world’s most longstanding refugee situations.
