Most of east Europe has been undergoing a political and cultural renaissance since the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. After decades of Soviet dominance, the region is recovering from the collapse of an inefficient economy and the resulting environmental damage, including the accident at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986.
Internal struggles, such as those in the former Yugoslavia and Cyprus, continue. Yet today, as tourism grows and more nations in east Europe join the European Union, there is great hope the region will flourish and prosper.
