1980s

198X
Big Boss battles in various African civil wars.

Big Boss meets Frank Jaeger's adopted sister in Mozambique, and brings them both to America. The young girl eventually takes the name of Naomi Hunter.

Early to mid '80s: Jack (Raiden) is born.

Late '80s: Solidus Snake kills Jack's (Raiden's) parents and adopts him. Solidus trains Jack as a child soldier.

Late '80s: Big Boss establishes the mercenary nation-state and fortress of Outer Heaven in South Africa.

VR training is researched and developed.

1980
May 21st: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released.

September 22nd: Iraq launches a full-scale invasion of Iran, triggering the Iran-Iraq War.

Huey Emmerich's son is born, named Hal Emmerich.

The United Nations officially establishes the University for Peace in Costa Rica

The M1 Abrams Tank is developed.

1981
April: The US launches the Columbia, the first space shuttle.

The movie Escape from New York is released.

The Contras are formed in Nicaragua. Their goal is to overthrow the FSLN government. They are backed by the US CIA and the Argentine intelligence.

1982
March 19th to June 14th: The Falklands War.

June: The Second Chadian Civil War ends.

1983
March 23rd: US President Ronald Reagan announces the SDI.

May 25th: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is released.

June 27th: The MSX was formally announced to the public.

October 25th to December 15th: The Invasion of Grenada.

November 17th: Costa Rican President Luis Alberto Monge refuses to allow the construction of U.S. military bases in his country, declaring permanent neutrality in Costa Rica.

The Challenger 1 is developed.

1984
The USS Missouri is modernized and placed back in action.

1985
March: Mikhail Gorbachev's new administration ushers the Soviet Union into the Détente-2 era.

1986
January: USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev proposes the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe with the eventual elimination of all nuclear weapons by the end of the century.

January 24th: The Voyager II space probe makes its first encounter with Uranus.

January 28th: The US space shuttle program stalls due to the Challenger explosion.

February: US President Ronald Reagan proposes a limit of 140 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) in Europe and concurrent proportionate reductions in Asia.

February 19th: The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.

March: The US proposes the Human Genome Project, igniting a global research effort.

April: The Chernobyl accident. The fallout showers the Romanenko family with radiation. Nastasha Romanenko vows the world to be free from nuclear weapons.

October: The Soviet Union begins a phased withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.

1987
January: The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency begins in Uganda. Sometime during this civil war, Drebin 893 is kidnapped by the guerrilla forces and forced to fight as a child soldier in the conflict.

February: The Soyuz TM-2 successfully docks with Mir.

May: USSR residential force in Afghanistan begins retreat.

October: The US and USSR come to a consensus on a Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles through extended negotiations.

December 8th: The INF Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by the US and USSR.

Meryl Silverburgh is born.

1988
February: During the Winter Olympics in Canada, Frank Jaeger (under the alias "Frank Hunter") meets Czech figure skater Gustava Heffner. They later fail in an attempt to elope, after Gustava is denied asylum in the West.

February 23rd - September 6th: During the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein launches the Al-Anfal Campaign, a genocidal military campaign against the Kurds in Northern Iraq. During the campaign, Sniper Wolf's family are killed.

May 27th to June 1st: The INF Treaty is ratified by the US and USSR, and enters into force.

August: US space shuttle launches recommence.

August 20th: Iraq and Iran sign a ceasefire, ending the Iran-Iraq War. Space Shuttle launching restarted.

START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) is approved by both the US and USSR.

1989
Big Boss covertly resumes command of FOXHOUND.

SNF (Short-range Nuclear Force) total abandonment commences.

The separation between negotiations over START and SDI is prevailed to the public.

The USSR armed forces, including 500,000 personnel, 6 tank divisions and other troops, are cut.

February 2nd: The last USSR armored column leaves Kabul, ending 9 years of military occupation.

February 15th: The USSR announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.

August 25th: Voyager II passes the planet Neptune and its moon Triton.

September 22nd - 23rd: The US-USSR sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Chemical Weapons at the Wyoming foreign minister meeting.

November 9th: The Berlin Wall falls.

Democracy movement becomes widespread in various Eastern Europen areas.

Asylum-seeker and refugee flow into capitalist society increases.

December 2nd - 3rd: The US and USSR agree to complete an agreement on CFE (Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) by the end of 1990 at the Malta Conference.

December: The Liberian Civil War begins. Jack (Raiden) participates in the war as a child soldier.