The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 did not bring forth a world of liberal democracies as many had hoped. On the contrary, the collapse helped facilitate the rise of China and the growth of authoritarian, religious or nationalist populism in India, the Middle East, Turkey, Russia and Eastern Europe. Latin America became in many ways a world center for the Left. The US and Europe lost their role as models, a decline apparent in novels, film and other cultural products. We will explore this history through reading such authors as Fukuyama, Hobsbawms, Caldwell,Wallerstein and WILDERSON