CLASS: XII
SECTION: AE
SUBJECT: Political Science
SESSION: 2022-23
Chapter-2: The End of Bipolarity
(Contemporary World Politics)
KEYWORDS:
Egalitarian society - It believes that all people are equally important and should have the same rights
and opportunities in life.
Soviet System – Soviet System was introduced after the Russian revolution in 1917 based on the
principles of egalitarian society and a planned economy controlled by the state.
Socialist Bloc - The Eastern European countries were known as Socialist bloc because these countries
were liberated from the fascist forces and their political and economic systems were based on
socialism.
Capitalist Bloc – The Western European countries were known as the Capitalist bloc as they followed
the ideology of capitalism and liberal democracy. In these countries, productive assets were owned
and controlled by the capitalist.
Largest Garage Sale - It resulted due to Shock Therapy to undervalue the valuable industries of the
USSR to sell them at throw away prices.
Shock Therapy - The model of transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic
system in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe under the influence of the World Bank and IMF.
Commonwealth of Independent States – It was a loose confederation formed by the erstwhile Soviet
States of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in 1991, later joined the Central Asian republics.
Coup - Illegal takeover of the government by military either through violence or otherwise.
Glasnost - It means openness or democratization of the system wherein the citizens were given the
right to get full and correct information about public issues.
Perestroika - It means a restructuring of political, economic, and administrative reforms.
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NCERT QUESTIONS:
Q6. Mention any three features that distinguish the Soviet economy from that of a capitalist country like the US.
The Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War. Features that distinguish the Soviet economy
from that of a capitalist country like the US, can be summed up as follows:
Soviet economy experienced a complex communication network, vast energy resources like oil, iron and steel
and an efficient transport sector to connect its remotest areas.
Soviet Union industries produced every domestic product from pin to cars. Its quality, however, was not at par
with the West.
The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens, and the government subsidised basic
necessities including health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes.
There was an absence of unemployment in Soviet Union.
State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled
by the Soviet state.
Q7. What were the factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reforms in the USSR?
The Soviet economy was faltering in the late 1970s and became stagnant. It was at this juncture that Mikhail
Gorbachev took the reins of Communist Party as the General Secretary in 1985.
The factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reforms in the USSR were:
To keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.
To normalise the relations with that of the West.
To democratise the Soviet System by introducing reforms like Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika
(Restructuring).
To loosen the administrative system which exempted ordinary people from the privileges.
Q8. What were the major consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union?
The collapse of the second world of the Soviet Union and the socialist systems in Eastern Europe had profound
consequences for world politics –
The end of Cold War confrontations: The biggest implication of the collapse of Soviet Union was the end of
the cold war. The ideological dispute and rivalry between socialism and capitalism came to an end. Since this
dispute had engaged the military of the two blocs, it had triggered a massive arms race and accumulation of
nuclear weapons by the two blocs. The end of the confrontation demanded an end to this arms race and
establishing new peace.
Change in power equation and rise of Liberal Capitalism: The collapse of Soviet Union led to a drastic change
in power relations in world politics changed, which further affected ideas and institutions attached to it. The
end of cold war paved two possibilities:
a) the remaining superpower(USA) dominate and create a unipolar system or
b) different countries or a group of countries where no one power could dominate
and create a multipolar world.
As events took place, U.S.A remained the sole superpower and hegemonised the world politics in unipolar
world. The capitalist economy became the dominant economic system internationally and institutions like
World Bank and International Monetary Fund became powerful advisors to all these countries.
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Emergence of new states: 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 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO). The Central Asian countries wanted to take advantage of the geographical location and continue their
close ties with Russia and also to establish ties with the West, the US, China and others. Thus, the collapse of
bipolarity witnessed the emergence of new players each with their own identity, interest and economic &
political problems.
Summary (consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union)
1. Disintegration of Soviet Union gave an end to Cold War confrontations and to ideological
disputes between two superpowers.
2. Military alliances had been abolished and demand arose for world peace and security.
3. The US became the sole superpower and capitalist economy became dominant at
international level. World Bank and IMF became powerful advisors due to their
economic support to these countries during transitional period.
4. The motion of liberal democracy emerged as a way to organise political life.
5. Due to disintegration of Soviet Union many new countries emerged with the
independent aspirations and choices.
6. The Baltic and East European states wanted to join European Union and became the
part of NATO. The Central Asian countries took the advantage of their geographical
location and continued close ties with Russia, West, China and others.
Q9 What was Shock Therapy? Was this the best way to make a transition from communism to capitalism?
The collapse of communism in Soviet Union was followed by a painful 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’.
This was not the best way to make a transition from communism to capitalism due to following drawbacks:
1. The Shock Therapy administered in the 1990s brought ruin to the economies and disaster upon the people of
the entire region.
2. 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.
3. As the valuable industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices, this was called ‘the largest garage
sale in history’
4. The value of the ruble, the Russian currency declined.
5. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
6. The collective farming system disintegrated leaving people without food security.
7. The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed. The withdrawal of government subsidies
pushed large sections of people into poverty.
8. The middle classes were pushed to the periphery of society, and the academic and intellectual manpower
disintegrated or migrated.
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9. A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic activities.
10. Privatisation lead to new economic disparities which divided Russia between rich and poor regions.
Q10. Write an essay for or against the following proposition. “With the disintegration of the second world, India
should change its foreign policy and focus more on friendship with the US rather than with traditional friends like
Russia”.
In Bipolar world, India had good and cordial relationship with all communist states including the Soviet Union.
Therefore, India should not change its foreign policy and focus more on friendship with US, but India is required to
maintain healthy relations with Russia because India has experienced a long band of mutual trust, interests and
popular perceptions with Russia in the following manner:
1. Russia and India share a vision of a multipolar world order i.e. coexistence of several world powers
internationally, collective security, greater regionalism, democratization with the decision-making through
bodies like the UN.
2. More than 80 bilateral agreements have been experienced between India and Russia as a part of the Indo-
Russia Strategic Agreement of 2001.
3. India has been benefitted from its relationship on the issues like Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information
on international terrorism, access to Central Asia and balancing its relation with China.
4. Russia is also important for India’s nuclear energy plane and assisting India’s space industry by giving cryogenic
rocket to India whenever needed.
5. Co-operation with Russia and its republics like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan in the form of partnership and
investment in oil fields has also benefitted India.
6. Russia is also benefitted from India on ground of the second largest arms market for Russia. Indian military
gets most of its hardware from Russia.
EXTRA QUESTIONS:
Q1. Why is it said that the collapse of the Berlin Wall signified the collapse of the bipolar world?
The Berlin Wall was the hallmark of the Cold War. It symbolized the division between the capitalist and the communist
world; a bipolar world. On 9th November 1989, people broke the wall marking it as a symbol of unification of the East
and West Germany into a single country with Berlin as its capital. This dramatic event was followed by an equally
dramatic and historic chain of events that led to the collapse of the ‘second world’ and the end of the Cold War.
Q2. Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate?
The internal weaknesses of the Soviet economic and political institutions, economic stagnation and unaccountable
and unresponsive political system lead to its downfall.
1. Economic Failures - The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military
arsenal and development of its satellite states in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system. In the arms
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race Soviet Union managed to match the US from time to time but at a great cost. Economic stagnation for
many years led to severe consumer shortages and a large section of the society begin to doubt and question
the system.
2. Disparity between Western nations and Soviet Union - Ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about
the economic advance of the West. They could see disparities between their system and the systems of the
West. The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology, infrastructure and most importantly in fulfilling
the political and economic aspirations of citizens.
3. Administrative and Political Stagnation- The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and
political sense as well. The Communist Party which ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years became
unaccountable to the people. Ordinary people felt alienated by stifling administration. There was rampant
corruption and political elite did not try to rectify their mistakes by allowing more openness in government
and the centralisation of authority in a vast land. To make the matter worse still, the bureaucratic privileges
made the people feel isolated from the common mainstream. People did not identify with the system and
with the rulers, and the government increasingly lost popular backing.
4. Gorbachev’s Policies - Gorbachev introduced reforms like Glasnost and Perestroika to catch up with the West
and to loosen the administrative system. Although Gorbachev was right in initiating reforms, in reality when
the reformation process set in, it loosened the system and set in motion forces and became impossible to
control. There were sections of Soviet society which felt that Gorbachev should have moved much faster and
were disappointed and impatient with his methods. They lost the faith in him. Communist Party and those
who were served by the system, took exactly the opposite view. They felt that their power and privileges were
eroding and Gorbachev was moving too quickly. In this ‘tug of war’, Gorbachev lost support on all sides and
divided public opinion.
5. Rise of Nationalism - The rise of nationalism and desire for sovereignty within the various republics including
Russian, the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) Ukraine, Georgia and other proved to be the final and
most immediate cause for the disintegration of USSR.
Q3. Describe the factors that make most of the former Soviet Republics prone to conflicts and threats.
Most of the former Soviet Republics are prone to conflicts, and many have had civil wars and insurgencies.
Complicating the picture is the growing involvement of outside powers.
The factors that make most of the former Soviet republics prone to conflicts and threats are:
In Russia, two republics Chechnya and Dagestan, have had violent secessionist movements.
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.
There were movements against the existing regimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. The Central Asian
republics are areas with vast hydrocarbon resources and have become a zone of competition between outside
powers and oil companies.
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In Eastern Europe Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two, with the Czechs and the Slovaks forming independent
countries.
Conflict which took place in the Balkan republics of Yugoslavia, which in 1991, broke with several provinces like
Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declaring independence.
The inter-ethnic civil war in Yugoslavia led to NATO intervention.
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