Prior to the democratic revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, this category contained many more states. Communist-based governments owned and controlled nearly all sectors of the economy, and they allowed citizens few civil liberties and rights. The Marxist-Leninist ideology of communism put it at odds with the capitalism-based industrialized democracies of the United States and Western Europe, and this was the primary cause of the Cold War. North Korea is the main relic example of the dwindling influence of communist-inspired government, although Cuba under Castro still has many communist aspects. This site focuses on the post-communist present and future of Russia and China, and also on North Korea.