NALMINDER MA’AM

Ph. No. 9717937270

END OF BIPOLARITY

 The USSR came into being after the socialist revolution in Russia in
1917.
 The revolution was inspired by the ideals of socialism, as opposed to
capitalism and the need for an egalitarian (equal and welfare) society.

How the Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War?
 The Soviet economy was more developed than the rest of the world
except US.
 It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources
including oil, iron and steel, machinery production and a transport sector
that connected its remotest areas with efficiency
 It had industry that produced everything from pins to cars, though their
quality did not match that of the Western capitalist countries.
 It ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens and the
government subsidized basic necessities including health, education,
childcare and other welfare schemes.
 There was no unemployment.

State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive
assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

Features of Soviet Political system

1. The makers of the Soviet system gave primary importance to the working
class and the institution of the party that supported the poor people.
2. The Soviet political system centered around the communist philosophy,
and no other political party, or opposition was allowed.
3. They also abolished the institution of private property and designed the
society based on principles of equality
4. The economy was planned and controlled by the state
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Criticism of the Soviet System(These were also few reasons of

disintegration of USSR)
 The Soviet system became very bureaucratic and authoritarian.
 Lack of democracy and the absence of freedom of speech stifled people
 Most of the institutions of the Soviet state needed reform: the one-party
system represented by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had tight
control over all institutions and was unaccountable to the people.
 The party refused to recognize the urge of people in the fifteen different
republics that formed the Soviet Union to manage their own affairs including
their cultural affairs.
 Russia dominated everything and people from other regions felt neglected
and often suppressed.
 The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology, infrastructure
(e.g. transport, power), and most importantly, in fulfilling the political or
economic aspirations of citizens.
 The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system even
further.
Why did Soviet Union disintegrate?
1. Economic reason
 The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear
and military arsenal and the development of its satellite states( Hungary,
Albania, Bulgaria, Romania) in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet
system (Five Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan).
 This led to a huge economic burden that the system could not cope up with.

2. Political reason
 The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and political
sense as well.
 The Communist party was not accountable to the people.
 Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant
corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made,
centralization of authority.
 Party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens

3. Cultural reason
 Russia dominated everything and people from other regions felt neglected
and often suppressed.
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 The Communist party refused to recognize the urge of people in the

fifteen different republics that formed the Soviet Union to manage their own
affairs including their cultural affairs.

4. Role of citizens
 Ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable as well as intelligent.
 They came to know about the economic advances of the West and saw
disparities between their system and the West.
 They demanded for political and economic reforms.

5. Gorbachev’s reforms
 Gorbachev sought to reform the system in 1985 because he thought it was
necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological
revolutions taking place in the West.
 But he carried out his reforms and loosened the system, he set in motion
forces and expectations that few could have predicted and became virtually
impossible to control.
 These were sections of Soviet society which felt that he moved much faster
and were disappointed and impatient with his methods.
 Others especially members of the Communist party felt that their power and
privileges were eroding and he was moving too quickly.
 In this tug of war Gorbachev lost support on all sides and divided public
opinion.

6. Rise of Nationalism
 The rise of Nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within the various
republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania) Ukraine, Georgia and other proved to be the final and most
immediate cause for the disintegration of USSR.

There are differing views.

 One view is that nationalist urges and feelings were very much at work
throughout the history of the Soviet Union and that whether or not the
reforms had occurred there would have been an internal struggle within the
Soviet Union.
 Others think that Gorbachev’s reforms speeded up and increased nationalist
dissatisfaction to the point that the government and rulers could not control
it. Nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more
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“European” and prosperous part – in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as
Ukraine and Georgia.

Gorbachev and the Disintegration

 Reforms were necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and
technological revolutions taking place in the West
 Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and
democratization within the country.
 The reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist Party. In
December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union
was disbanded. The declaration on the disintegration of the USSR and the
formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came as a
surprise to the other republics, especially to the Central Asian ones.
 Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union . It
inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council. Russia accepted all the
international treaties and commitments of the Soviet Union. It took over as
the only nuclear state of the post- Soviet space and carried out some nuclear
disarmament measures with the US.

Consequences of Disintegration of USSR

 The collapse of the second world of the Soviet Union and the socialist
systems in Eastern Europe had profound consequences for world politics.
1. End of the Cold War - First of all it meant the end of Cold war
confrontations. The ideological dispute between the socialist system and the
capitalist system was over.
2. Coming up of unipolar world - the US became the sole superpower and
the capitalist economy was now the dominant economic system
internationally. Backed by the power and prestige of the US, the capitalist
economy was now the dominant economic system internationally.
3. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund became powerful
advisors- Institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF) became powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them
loans for their transitions to capitalism.
4. Former socialist countries turned to capitalism- the former republics who
adopted democracy/rise of capitalist economy were helped by the World
Bank and IMF.
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5. Liberal democracy emerged as the best alternative- Politically, the

notion of liberal democracy emerged as the best way to organise political
life.

Emergence of many new countries with their own identity -The end of the
Soviet bloc meant the emergence of many new countries. All these countries
had their own independent aspirations and choices. Some of them especially the
Baltic and East European states wanted to join the European Union and become
part of NATO. The Central Asian countries wanted to take advantage of their
geographical location and continue their close ties with Russia and also with the
West, US, China and others.

Shock Therapy in Post- Communist Regimes

 After the collapse of communism, all most all countries which were under
the control of USSR witnessed the process of transition from an
authoritarian Socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. The model
of transition in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe that was influenced by
the World Bank and the IMF, came to be known as ‘shock therapy’.
 A system/process of transition from an authoritarian Socialist system to
a democratic capitalist system after disintegration of USSR influenced
by the World Bank and IMF is referred as shock therapy.
 It also involved a drastic change in the external orientation of these
economies.
 Free trade was considered essential.
 The free trade regime and Foreign Direct Investment were to be the main
engines of change.
 This involved Deregulation or opening up and currency convertibility.
 It also involved the breakup of the existing trade alliances among the
countries of Soviet Bloc. Each state from this bloc was now linked directly
to the West and not to each other in the region. The Western capitalist states
now became the leaders and thus guided and controlled the development of
the region through various agencies and organisations.

Consequences of Shock Therapy

 The Shock therapy brought ruins to the economies and disaster upon the
people of the entire region.
1. In Russia the large state-controlled industrial complex almost collapsed, as
about 90% of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and
companies. This was called the ‘largest garage sale’ in history as valuable
industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices. Though all citizens
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were given vouchers to participate in the sales, most citizens sold their vouchers
in the black market because they needed the money.

2. The value of Ruble, the Russian currency declined dramatically.

3. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.

4. The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food

security, and Russia started to import food

5. The real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below what it was in 1989. The old
trading structure broke down with no alternative in its place.

6. The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed. The

withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into
poverty. The middle classes were pushed to the periphery (outside boundary) of
society and the academic and intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated.

7. A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many

economic activities.

8. Privatization led to new disparities. Post Soviet states especially Russia, were
divided between rich and poor regions.

The construction of democratic institutions was not given the same attention
and priority as the demands of economic transformation. The constitutions of all
these countries were drafted in a hurry and most, including Russia, had a strong
executive president with the widest possible powers that rendered elected
parliaments relatively weak. In Central Asia, the presidents had great powers,
and several of them became very authoritarian. For example, the presidents of
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan appointed themselves to power first for ten years
and then extended it for another ten years. They allowed no dissent or
opposition. A judicial culture and independence of the judiciary was yet to be
established in most of these countries.

Most of these economies, especially Russia, started reviving in 2000, ten

years after their independence.

 The reason for the revival for most of their economies was the export of
natural resources like oil, natural gas and minerals. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas producers. Other
countries have gained because of the oil pipelines that cross their territories
for which they get rent.
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Tensions and Conflicts

 Most of the former Soviet Republics are prone to conflicts and many have
had civil wars and insurgencies.

1. In Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan have had violent

secessionist movements.
2. In Central Asia, Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for 10 years
till 2001. In Georgia, the demand for independence has come from two
provinces resulting in a civil war.
3. Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, there are movements against the existing
rulers.
4. The Central Asian Republics are areas with vast hydrocarbon resources and
have become a zone of competition between outside powers and oil
companies. After 11 September 2001, the US wanted military bases in the
region and paid the governments of all Central Asian states to hire bases and
to allow airplanes to fly over their territory during the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq. China has interests here because of the oil resources, and the
Chinese have begun to settle around the borders and conduct trade.
5. In Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two- with the
Czechs and the Slovaks forming independent countries.
6. Most severe conflict took place in the Balkan republic of Yugoslavia which
broke in 1991 with several provinces like Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina declaring independence.

Collapse of Berlin wall

The Berlin wall separated East Berlin (Pro Soviet bloc) from the West Berlin
(Pro US bloc). After 28 years it was demolished by the people in 1989 which
marked the unification of the 2 parts of Germany and the beginning of the
end of communist bloc which culminated later into disintegration of USSR
which led to the collapse of the bipolar world ultimately.

India and Post-Communist Countries

 India has maintained good relations with all the post-communist countries.
But the strongest relations are still those between Russia and India
 Indo-Russian relations are embedded in a history of trust and common
interests and are matched by popular perceptions.
 Russia and India share a vision of a multipolar world order which means
coexistence of several powers in the international system, collective
security, greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international
conflicts, independent foreign policy for all countries and decision making
through bodies like UN.
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 More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signed between India and
Russia as part of the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.
 India stands to benefit from its relationship with Russia on issues like
Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information on international terrorism,
access to Central Asia and balancing its relations with China.
 Russia stands to benefit from this relationship because India is the second
largest arms market for Russia. The India military gets most of its hardware
from Russia, imports oil from it.
 India is seeking to increase its energy imports from Russia and the republics
of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
 Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and assisted India’s
space industry by giving the cryogenic rocket when India needed it. Russia
and India have collaborated on various scientific projects. Since India is an
oil importing nation Russia is important to India and has repeatedly come to
the assistance of India during its oil crises. India is seeking to increase its
energy imports from Russia.

India’s relation with Russia during cold war-

1. Economic- Economic assistances to Indian public sector, special assistance
for steel plants like Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam and machinery plants and
accepted Indian currency for trade.

2. Political- USSR supported India on Kashmir issue in U.N. and during war
with Pakistan in 1971.

3. Military- India received most of its military hardware from the Soviet Union.

4. Culture- Hindi films and Indian culture were popular in the Soviet Union. A
large number of Indian writers and artists visited the USSR.

5. India stands to benefit from its relationship due to the support on Kashmir,
arms supplies, sharing information on terrorism, balancing relations with China.

6. Russia stands to benefit from this relationship because India is the second
largest arms market for Russia. The India military gets most of its hardware
from Russia, imports oil from it.

Recent development
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in2014 for the 15th Annual
India-Russia Summit.
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During the Summit, the leaders agreed on a vision for strengthening the India-
Russia partnership over the next decade.

India and Russia will expand their cooperation in science and technology,
industry, localization of equipment and spares, uranium mining, fabrication and
supply of nuclear fuel, management of spent fuel and in other aspects of the
nuclear fuel cycle.

India and Russia will promote bilateral economic, trade and investment
cooperation to contribute to the enhanced role of emerging markets in the world
economy 

India and Russia have converging interests in preventing the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction.

The relationship between India and Russia has been tested by time and will
continue to be a friendship based on complete trust that will bring happiness and
prosperity to peoples of both countries.

The 8th BRICS summit 2016 was the annual diplomatic meeting of the BRICS,

a grouping of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa. It was hosted by India(Goa).