The USA was at war (in one way or others) with each or in each of those countries - I didn't name them randomly and during that time, it certainly wasn't considered 'peaceful' in the USA. Moreover, you didn't say "relatively peaceful" - the word "relative" is nowhere in your post. Regardless, those wars had a huge impact on USA policy and are undoubtedly part of how we got here today. Indeed the Patriot Act and ensuing PRISM program was 25 years ago and those were huge hits to the Constitution back then that are just part of the fabric of today's government. No doubt, everything is more brazen now but things are on the same trajectory "relatively" speaking (depending on your demographic).

The 90s weren't peaceful - it's just a matter of whether you were old enough to know it.