10 ways the early '90s changed the world

HAPPIER TIMES Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf and Bush 41

As the war in Iraq drags on into its fifth year with no end in sight, the American military is increasingly going it alone. But remember 1991, when a U.S.-led coalition marched into Kuwait and repelled Saddam's forces in a matter of six weeks—then had the good sense to quit while it was ahead?

One can't help feeling a little nostalgic for those halcyon days of the early '90s. You may recall the cultural detritus from 1990 to 1994 as a vapid, amorphous, and insignificant slice of American history. But while you doodled Kurt Cobain's face and strapped on your Rollerblades, the entertainment, figures, products, moments, and trends of those five years were quietly sowing the seeds of today's geopolitical landscape. Time-travel back with Radar and see what the early '90s begat.

SIDEBURNS ON 90210

EARLY '90s:
Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. theorized that American electoral politics cycle between liberalism and conservatism approximately every seventeen years. The same can be said for giant sideburns, which James Dean kick-started in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause, found favor again in the early '70s, and were tragically reinvigorated in 1990 by Jason Priestley and Luke Perry on Beverly Hills, 90210. The follicular floodgates then opened for goatees, muttonchops, and eventually mountain-man beards, all of which led to ...

NOW:
9/11. Growing resentment among the fundamentalist Muslim community over America's appropriation of facial hair for such unholy vices as attracting women and garnering higher Nielsen ratings foments into searing hatred, culminating in the attack on the World Trade Center. In a symbolic gesture, the hijackers shave their mangy, unfashionable beards prior to their attacks, which also conveniently makes them less conspicuous targets for airport security.