Perhaps the real difficulty is that the new political agenda, appropriate for the next millennium, remains curiously unformed. The state is not withering away, and there remains no better vehicle for controlling organized violence or expressing the character and the concerns of a particular society, but the nature of its competence in the economic sphere and its tolerable intrusion into civil society are being redefined. This process seems to be more the consequence of a series of small decisions than the product of a clear political programme. Great powers no longer expect to fight each other, dominate international affairs, or aggrandize themselves at the expense of others, but the corollary of this is that they are not sure as to the range of their interests and responsibilities in the pursuit of a wider peace and stability. Multilateral organizations have yet to show themselves to be able to cope with those global problems that cannot be handled at the level of the state, and the implications of new forms of institutional arrangements are uncertain. Instead, Census estimates on ethnicity were based on the number of people living in a household headed by someone born in one of the different ‘Commonwealth’ groups. People were therefore classified into broadly national ethnic groups such as Indians, West Indians and Pakistanis.

Linus Torvalds posts messages to the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix, regarding the new operating system kernel he had developed, called Linux. [211] [212]April 2 – Government-imposed prices increase double or triple the cost of consumer goods in the Soviet Union. [85] [86]

February 16 – Singing Revolution: The Council of Lithuania declares the independence of Lithuania, ending decades of Soviet rule over the country. [43] The Bank of Credit and Commerce International ( BCCI ) closed by regulators from US and UK U.S. tornadoes A large suburban firestorm centered in Oakland Hills, California, kills 25 people and injures 150 others. [266]August 4 – The cruise liner MTS Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa, leading to the rescue of all 571 passengers on board by SAAF helicopters. [192] [193] In the end, the 1981 Census didn’t include a question on ethnicity – something Parliament later said it regretted.

Schmidt, William E. (1991-02-19). "2 RAIL TERMINALS IN CENTRAL LONDON HIT BY I.R.A. BOMBS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-06-12. Aug 19 Salem Al-Dawsari, Saudi Arabian football player (Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia), born in Wadi ad-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia finding the best way to ask people about their ethnicity, using a consistent list of ethnic groups that people identify with and find acceptable The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.January 24 – The government of Papua New Guinea signs a peace agreement with separatist leaders from Bougainville Island, ending fighting that had gone on since 1988. [27] The Harare Declaration is signed in Harare, Zimbabwe, laying down the Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria. [265]