The End of Bipolarity - Prashanth Ellinancertbooks.prashanthellina.com/class_12.PoliticalScience... · world’ and the end of the Cold War. Germany, divided after the Second World

OVERVIEWThe Berlin Wall, which had beenbuilt at the height of the Cold Warand was its greatest symbol, wastoppled by the people in 1989.This dramatic event was followedby an equally dramatic andhistoric chain of events that ledto the collapse of the ‘secondworld’ and the end of the Cold War.Germany, divided after the SecondWorld War, was unified. One afteranother, the eight East Europeancountries that were part of theSoviet bloc replaced theircommunist governments inresponse to mass demonstrations.The Soviet Union stood by as theCold War began to end, not bymilitary means but as a result ofmass actions by ordinary men andwomen. Eventually the SovietUnion itself disintegrated. In thischapter, we discuss the meaning,the causes and the consequencesof the disintegration of the ‘secondworld’. We also discuss whathappened to that part of the worldafter the collapse of communistregimes and how India relates tothese countries now.

Chapter 2

The End of Bipolarity

The Berlin Wallsymbolised the divisionbetween the capitalistand the communistworld. Built in 1961 toseparate East Berlin from West Berlin, this more than 150kilometre long wall stood for 28 years and was finally brokenby the people on 9 November 1989. This marked theunification of the two parts of Germany and the beginningof the end of the communist bloc. The pictures here depict:1. People making a tiny hole in the wall2. A section of the wall opened to allow free movement3. The Berlin Wall as it stood before 1989Credit: 1. and 2. Frederik Ramm,www.remote.org/frederik/culture/berlin3. www.cs.utah.edu

Contemporary World Politics18

machinery production, and atransport sector that connected itsremotest areas with efficiency. Ithad a domestic consumerindustry that produced everythingfrom pins to cars, though theirquality did not match that of theWestern capitalist countries. TheSoviet state ensured a minimumstandard of living for all citizens,and the government subsidisedbasic necessities including health,education, childcare and otherwelfare schemes. There was nounemployment. State ownershipwas the dominant form ofownership: land and productiveassets were owned and controlledby the Soviet state.

The Soviet system, however,became very bureaucratic andauthoritarian, making life verydifficult for its citizens. Lack ofdemocracy and the absence offreedom of speech stifled people whooften expressed their dissent injokes and cartoons. Most of theinstitutions of the Soviet stateneeded reform: the one-partysystem represented by theCommunist Party of the SovietUnion had tight control over allinstitutions and was unaccountableto the people. The party refused torecognise the urge of people in thefifteen different republics that formedthe Soviet Union to manage theirown affairs including their culturalaffairs. Although, on paper, Russiawas only one of the fifteen republicsthat together constituted the USSR,in reality Russia dominatedeverything, and people from otherregions felt neglected and oftensuppressed.

WHAT WAS THE SOVIET

SYSTEM?The Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics (USSR) came into beingafter the socialist revolution inRussia in 1917. The revolution wasinspired by the ideals of socialism,as opposed to capitalism, and theneed for an egalitarian society. Thiswas perhaps the biggest attemptin human history to abolish theinstitution of private property andconsciously design a society basedon principles of equality. In doingso, the makers of the Soviet systemgave primacy to the state and theinstitution of the party. The Sovietpolitical system centred aroundthe communist party, and no otherpolitical party or opposition wasallowed. The economy was plannedand controlled by the state.

After the Second World War,the east European countries thatthe Soviet army had liberated fromthe fascist forces came under thecontrol of the USSR. The politicaland the economic systems of allthese countries were modelledafter the USSR. This group ofcountries was called the SecondWorld or the ‘socialist bloc’. TheWarsaw Pact, a military alliance,held them together. The USSR wasthe leader of the bloc.

The Soviet Union became agreat power after the SecondWorld War. The Soviet economywas then more developed than therest of the world except for the US.It had a complex communicationsnetwork, vast energy resourcesincluding oil, iron and steel,

Vladimir Lenin(1870-1924)Founder of theBolshevikCommunist party;leader of theRussian Revolutionof 1917 and thefounder-head ofthe USSR duringthe most difficultperiod followingthe revolution(1917-1924); anoutstandingtheoretician andpractitioner ofMarxism and asource ofinspiration forcommunists allover the world.

LEADERS OF THESOVIET UNION

The End of Bipolarity 19

Joseph Stalin(1879-1953)Successor to Leninand led the SovietUnion during itsconsolidation(1924-53); beganrapidindustrialisationand forciblecollectivisation ofagriculture;credited withSoviet victory inthe Second WorldWar; heldresponsible for theGreat Terror of the1930s,authoritarianfunctioning andelimination ofrivals within theparty.


Gorbachev, did not intervenewhen the disturbances occurred,and the communist regimescollapsed one after another.

These developments wereaccompanied by a rapidlyescalating crisis within the USSRthat hastened its disintegration.Gorbachev initiated the policies ofeconomic and political reform anddemocratisation within thecountry. The reforms wereopposed by leaders within theCommunist Party.

A coup took place in 1991 thatwas encouraged by CommunistParty hardliners. The people hadtasted freedom by then and did notwant the old-style rule of theCommunist Party. Boris Yeltsinemerged as a national hero inopposing this coup. The RussianRepublic, where Yeltsin won apopular election, began to shakeoff centralised control. Powerbegan to shift from the Sovietcentre to the republics, especiallyin the more Europeanised part ofthe Soviet Union, which sawthemselves as sovereign states.The Central Asian republics didnot ask for independence andwanted to remain with the SovietFederation. In December 1991,under the leadership of Yeltsin,Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,three major republics of theUSSR, declared that the SovietUnion was disbanded. TheCommunist Party of the SovietUnion was banned. Capitalismand democracy were adopted asthe bases for the post-Sovietrepublics.

In the arms race, the SovietUnion managed to match the USfrom time to time, but at greatcost. The Soviet Union laggedbehind the West in technology,infrastructure (e.g. transport,power), and most importantly, infulfilling the political or economicaspirations of citizens. The Sovietinvasion of Afghanistan in 1979weakened the system evenfurther. Though wages continuedto grow, productivity andtechnology fell considerablybehind that of the West. This ledto shortages in all consumergoods. Food imports increasedevery year. The Soviet economywas faltering in the late 1970s andbecame stagnant.

GORBACHEV AND THE

DISINTEGRATIONMikhail Gorbachev, who hadbecome General Secretary of theCommunist Party of the SovietUnion in 1985, sought to reformthis system. Reforms werenecessary to keep the USSRabreast of the information andtechnological revolutions takingplace in the West. However,Gorbachev’s decision to normaliserelations with the West anddemocratise and reform the SovietUnion had some other effects thatneither he nor anyone elseintended or anticipated. Thepeople in the East Europeancountries which were part of theSoviet bloc started to protestagainst their own governmentsand Soviet control. Unlike in thepast, the Soviet Union, under


The declaration on thedisintegration of the USSR and theformation of the Commonwealthof Independent States (CIS) cameas a surprise to the otherrepublics, especially to the CentralAsian ones. The exclusion of theserepublics was an issue that wasquickly solved by making themfounding members of the CIS.Russia was now accepted as thesuccessor state of the SovietUnion. It inherited the Soviet seatin the UN Security Council. Russiaaccepted all the internationaltreaties and commitments of theSoviet Union. It took over as theonly nuclear state of the post-Soviet space and carried out somenuclear disarmament measureswith the US. The old Soviet Unionwas thus dead and buried.

WHY DID THE SOVIET UNION

DISINTEGRATE?How did the second most powerfulcountry in the world suddenlydisintegrate? This is a questionworth asking not just tounderstand the Soviet Union andthe end of communism but alsobecause it is not the first and maynot be the last political system tocollapse. While there are uniquefeatures of the Soviet collapse,

there may be more general lessonsto be drawn from this veryimportant case.

There is no doubt that theinternal weaknesses of Sovietpolitical and economic institutions,which failed to meet theaspirations of the people, wereresponsible for the collapse of thesystem. Economic stagnation formany years led to severeconsumer shortages and a largesection of Soviet society began todoubt and question the systemand to do so openly.

Why did the system become soweak and why did the economystagnate? The answer is partiallyclear. The Soviet economy usedmuch of its resources inmaintaining a nuclear andmilitary arsenal and thedevelopment of its satellite statesin Eastern Europe and within theSoviet system (the five CentralAsian Republics in particular).This led to a huge economicburden that the system could notcope with. At the same time,ordinary citizens became moreknowledgeable about theeconomic advance of the West.They could see the disparitiesbetween their system and thesystems of the West. After yearsof being told that the Soviet

A Communist Party bureaucrat drives down from Moscow to a collective farmto register a potato harvest.“Comrade farmer, how has the harvest been this year?” the official asks.“Oh, by the grace of God, we had mountains of potatoes,” answers thefarmer.“But there is no God,” counters the official.“Huh”, says the farmer, “And there are no mountains of potatoes either.”

Nikita Khrushchev(1894-1971)Leader of theSoviet Union(1953-64);denouncedStalin’s leadershipstyle andintroduced somereforms in 1956;suggested“peacefulcoexistence” withthe West;involved insuppressingpopular rebellionin Hungary and inthe Cuban missilecrisis.


I am amazed! Howcould so manysensitive people allover the worldadmire a system likethis?


system was better than Westerncapitalism, the reality of itsbackwardness came as a politicaland psychological shock.

The Soviet Union had becomestagnant in an administrative andpolitical sense as well. TheCommunist Party that had ruledthe Soviet Union for over 70 yearswas not accountable to the people.Ordinary people were alienated byslow and stifling administration,rampant corruption, the inabilityof the system to correct mistakesit had made, the unwillingness toallow more openness ingovernment, and the centralisationof authority in a vast land. Worsestill, the party bureaucrats gainedmore privileges than ordinarycitizens. People did not identifywith the system and with therulers, and the governmentincreasingly lost popular backing.

Gorbachev’s reforms promisedto deal with theseproblems.Gorbachev promised to reform theeconomy, catch up with the West,and loosen the administrativesystem. You may wonder why theSoviet Union collapsed in spite ofGorbachev’s accurate diagnosis ofthe problem and his attempt toimplement reforms. Here is wherethe answers become morecontroversial, and we have todepend on future historians toguide us better.

The most basic answer seemsto be that when Gorbachev carriedout his reforms and loosened thesystem, he set in motion forces andexpectations that few could havepredicted and became virtually

impossible to control. There weresections of Soviet society which feltthat Gorbachev should havemoved much faster and weredisappointed and impatient withhis methods. They did not benefitin the way they had hoped, or theybenefited too slowly. Others,especially members of theCommunist Party and those whowere served by the system, tookexactly the opposite view. They feltthat their power and privilegeswere eroding and Gorbachev wasmoving too quickly. In this ‘tug ofwar’, Gorbachev lost support on allsides and divided public opinion.Even those who were with himbecame disillusioned as they feltthat he did not adequately defendhis own policies.

All this might not have led tothe collapse of the Soviet Union butfor another development thatsurprised most observers andindeed many insiders. The rise ofnationalism and the desire forsovereignty within variousrepublics including Russia and theBaltic Republics (Estonia, Latviaand Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia,and others proved to be the finaland most immediate cause for thedisintegration of the USSR. Hereagain there are differing views.

One view is that nationalisturges and feelings were very muchat work throughout the history ofthe Soviet Union and that whetheror not the reforms had occurredthere would have been an internalstruggle within the Soviet Union.This is a ‘what-if’ of history, butsurely it is not an unreasonable

Leonid Brezhnev(1906-82)Leader of theSoviet Union (1964-82); proposedAsian CollectiveSecurity system;associated withthe détente phasein relations withthe US; involved insuppressing apopular rebellionin Czechoslovakiaand in invadingAfghanistan.




MikhailGorbachev(Born 1931)Last leader of theSoviet Union(1985-91);introducedeconomic andpolitical reformpolicies ofperestroika(restructuring)and glasnost(openness);stopped the armsrace with the US;withdrew Soviettroops fromAfghanistan andeastern Europe;helped in theunification ofGermany; endedthe Cold War;blamed for thedisintegration ofthe Soviet Union.

view given the size and diversity ofthe Soviet Union and its growinginternal problems. Others thinkthat Gorbachev’s reforms speededup and increased nationalistdissatisfaction to the point thatthe government and rulers couldnot control it.

Ironically, during the Cold Warmany thought that nationalistunrest would be strongest in theCentral Asian republics given theirethnic and religious differences withthe rest of the Soviet Union and theireconomic backwardness. However,as things turned out, nationalist

TIMELINE OF DISINTEGRATIONOF THE SOVIET UNION

1985 March: Mikhail Gorbachev elected as the General Secretary of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union; appoints Boris Yeltsin as the head of theCommunist Party in Moscow; initiates a series of reforms in the Soviet Union

1988: Independence movement begins in Lithuania; later spreads to Estoniaand Latvia

1989 October: Soviet Union declares that the Warsaw Pact members are freeto decide their own futures; Berlin Wall falls in November

1990 February: Gorbachev strips the Soviet Communist Party of its 72-year-longmonopoly on power by calling on the Soviet parliament (Duma) to permit multi-party politics

1990 March: Lithuania becomes the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare itsindependence

1990 June: Russian parliament declares its independence from the Soviet Union

1991 June: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, becomes the President ofRussia

1991 August: The Communist Party hardliners stage an abortive coup againstGorbachev

1991 September: Three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania becomeUN members (later join NATO in March 2004)

1991 December: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decide to annul the 1922 Treatyon the Creation of the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of IndependentStates (CIS); Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the CIS (Georgia joins later in 1993); Russiatakes over the USSR seat in the United Nations

1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; theend of the Soviet Union


dissatisfaction with the Soviet Unionwas strongest in the more“European” and prosperous part –in Russia and the Baltic areas aswell as Ukraine and Georgia.Ordinary people here felt alienatedfrom the Central Asians and fromeach other and concluded also thatthey were paying too high aneconomic price to keep the morebackward areas within the SovietUnion.

CONSEQUENCES OF

DISINTEGRATION

The collapse of the second worldof the Soviet Union and thesocialist systems in eastern Europehad profound consequences forworld politics. Let us note herethree broad kinds of enduringchanges that resulted from it.Each of these had a number ofeffects that we cannot list here.

First of all, it meant the end ofCold War confrontations. Theideological dispute over whetherthe socialist system would beat thecapitalist system was not an issueany more. Since this dispute hadengaged the military of the twoblocs, had triggered a massivearms race and accumulation ofnuclear weapons, and had led tothe existence of military blocs, theend of the confrontation demandedan end to this arms race and apossible new peace.

Second, power relations inworld politics changed and,therefore, the relative influence ofideas and institutions also

changed. The end of the Cold Warleft open only two possibilities:either the remaining superpowerwould dominate and create aunipolar system, or differentcountries or groups of countriescould become important players inthe international system, therebybringing in a multipolar systemwhere no one power coulddominate. As it turned out, the USbecame the sole superpower.Backed by the power and prestigeof the US, the capitalist economywas now the dominant economicsystem internationally. Institutionslike the World Bank andInternational Monetary Fundbecame powerful advisors to allthese countries since they gavethem loans for their transitions tocapitalism. Politically, the notion ofliberal democracy emerged as thebest way to organise political life.

Third, the end of the Soviet blocmeant the emergence of many newcountries. All these countries hadtheir own independent aspirationsand choices. Some of them,especially the Baltic and eastEuropean states, wanted to join theEuropean Union and become partof the North Atlantic TreatyOrganisation (NATO). The CentralAsian countries wanted to takeadvantage of their geographicallocation and continue their close tieswith Russia and also to establish tieswith the West, the US, China andothers. Thus, the internationalsystem saw many new playersemerge, each with its own identity,interests, and economic and politicaldifficulties. It is to these issues thatwe now turn.


Boris Yeltsin (Born1931)The first electedPresident ofRussia (1991-1999); rose topower in theCommunist Partyand was madethe Mayor ofMoscow byGorbachev; laterjoined the criticsof Gorbachevand left theCommunist Party;led the protestsagainst the Sovietregime in 1991;played a key rolein dissolving theSoviet Union;blamed forhardshipssuffered byRussians in theirtransition fromcommunism tocapitalism.


Each of these countries wasrequired to make a total shift toa capitalist economy, whichmeant rooting out completelyany structures evolved duringthe Soviet period. Above all, itmeant that private ownershipwas to be the dominant patternof ownership of property.Privatisation of state assets andcorporate ownership patternswere to be immediately broughtin. Collective farms were to bereplaced by private farming andcapitalism in agriculture. Thistransition ruled out anyalternate or ‘third way’, otherthan state-controlled socialismor capitalism.

SHOCK THERAPY INPOST-COMMUNIST REGIMES

The collapse of communism wasfollowed in most of thesecountries by a painful process oftransition from an authoritariansocialist system to a democraticcapitalist system. The model oftransition in Russia, Central Asiaand east Europe that wasinfluenced by the World Bankand the IMF came to be knownas ‘shock therapy’. Shock therapyvaried in intensity and speedamongst the former second worldcountries, but its direction andfeatures were quite similar.

Locate theCentral AsianRepublics onthe map.

“Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin”

I heard someone say“The end of theSoviet Union doesnot mean the end ofsocialism.” Is thatpossible?

POLITICAL MAP OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES, 1997


Shock therapy also involved adrastic change in the externalorientation of these economies.Development was now envisagedthrough more trade, and thus asudden and complete switch tofree trade was consideredessential. The free trade regimeand foreign direct investment(FDI) were to be the main enginesof change. This also involvedopenness to foreign investment,financial opening up orderegulation, and currencyconvertibility.

Finally, the transition alsoinvolved a break up of the existingtrade alliances among thecountries of the Soviet bloc. Eachstate from this bloc was nowlinked directly to the West and notto each other in the region. Thesestates were thus to be graduallyabsorbed into the Westerneconomic system. The Westerncapitalist states now became theleaders and thus guided andcontroled the development of theregion through various agenciesand organisations.

CONSEQUENCES OF SHOCK

THERAPY

The shock therapy administered inthe 1990s did not lead the peopleinto the promised utopia of massconsumption. Generally, itbrought ruin to the economies anddisaster upon the people of theentire region. In Russia, the largestate-controlled industrialcomplex almost collapsed, as

about 90 per cent of its industrieswere put up for sale to privateindividuals and companies. Sincethe restructuring was carried outthrough market forces and not bygovernment-directed industrialpolicies, it led to the virtualdisappearance of entire industries.This was called ‘the largest garagesale in history’, as valuableindustries were undervalued andsold at throwaway prices. Thoughall citizens were given vouchers toparticipate in the sales, mostcitizens sold their vouchers in theblack market because they neededthe money.

The value of the ruble, theRussian currency, declineddramatically. The rate of inflationwas so high that people lost alltheir savings. The collective farmsystem disintegrated leavingpeople without food security, andRussia started to import food. Thereal GDP of Russia in 1999 wasbelow what it was in 1989. The oldtrading structure broke down withno alternative in its place.

The old system of social welfarewas systematically destroyed. Thewithdrawal of governmentsubsidies pushed large sections ofthe people into poverty. The middleclasses were pushed to theperiphery of society, and theacademic and intellectualmanpower disintegrated ormigrated. A mafia emerged in mostof these countries and startedcontrolling many economicactivities. Privatisation led to newdisparities. Post-Soviet states,especially Russia, were divided

I can see the shock.But where is thetherapy? Why do wetalk in sucheuphemisms?


between rich and poor regions.Unlike the earlier system, therewas now great economic inequalitybetween people.

The construction of democraticinstitutions was not given thesame attention and priority asthe demands of economictransformation. The constitutionsof all these countries were draftedin a hurry and most, includingRussia, had a strong executivepresident with the widest possiblepowers that rendered electedparliaments relatively weak. InCentral Asia, the presidents hadgreat powers, and several of thembecame very authoritarian. Forexample, the presidents ofTurkmenistan and Uzbekistanappointed themselves to powerfirst for ten years and thenextended it for another ten years.They allowed no dissent oropposition. A judicial culture andindependence of the judiciary wasyet to be established in most ofthese countries.

Most of these economies,especially Russia, startedreviving in 2000, ten years aftertheir independence. The reasonfor the revival for most of theireconomies was the export ofnatural resources like oil, naturalgas and minerals. Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistanand Uzbekistan are major oil and gasproducers. Other countries havegained because of the oilpipelines that cross theirterritories for which they get rent.Some amount of manufacturinghas restarted.

TENSIONS AND CONFLICTSMost of the former SovietRepublics are prone to conflicts,and many have had civil wars andinsurgencies. Complicating thepicture is the growing involvementof outside powers.

In Russia, two republics,Chechnya and Dagestan, havehad violent secessionistmovements. Moscow’s method ofdealing with the Chechen rebelsand indiscriminate militarybombings have led to manyhuman rights violations but failedto deter the aspirations forindependence.

In Central Asia, Tajikistanwitnessed a civil war that went onfor ten years till 2001. The regionas a whole has many sectarianconflicts. In Azerbaijan’s provinceof Nagorno-Karabakh, some localArmenians want to secede andjoin Armenia. In Georgia, thedemand for independence hascome from two provinces,resulting in a civil war. There aremovements against the existingregimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstanand Georgia. Countries andprovinces are fighting over riverwaters. All this has led toinstability, making life difficult forthe ordinary citizen.

The Central Asian Republics areareas with vast hydrocarbonresources, which have broughtthem economic benefit. CentralAsia has also become a zone ofcompetition between outsidepowers and oil companies. Theregion is next to Russia, China,Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and

What is the differencebetween nationalismand secessionism? Ifyou succeed, you arecelebrated as anationalist hero, and ifyou fail you arecondemned for crimesof secessionism.

As a result of‘shock therapy’about half ofRussia’s 1,500banks and otherfinacial institutionswent bankrupt.This image is thatof Inkombank,Russia’s secondlargest bank, thatwent bankrupt in1998. As a result,the money of10,000 corporateand privateshareholders waslost, along with themoney kept in thebank bycustomers.


close to West Asia. After 11September 2001, the US wantedmilitary bases in the region andpaid the governments of all CentralAsian states to hire bases and toallow airplanes to fly over theirterritory during the wars inAfghanistan and Iraq. However,Russia perceives these states as its‘Near Abroad’ and believes that theyshould be under Russian influence.China has interests here becauseof the oil resources, and the Chinesehave begun to settle around theborders and conduct trade.

In eastern Europe,Czechoslovakia split peacefullyinto two, with the Czechs and theSlovaks forming independentcountries. But the most severeconflict took place in the Balkanrepublics of Yugoslavia. After1991, it broke apart with severalprovinces like Croatia, Sloveniaand Bosnia and Herzegovinadeclaring independence. EthnicSerbs opposed this, and amassacre of non-Serb Bosniansfollowed. The NATO interventionand the bombing of Yugoslaviafollowed the inter-ethnic civil war.

INDIA AND POST-COMMUNIST

COUNTRIES

India has maintained goodrelations with all the post-communist countries. But thestrongest relations are still thosebetween Russia and India. India’srelations with Russia are animportant aspect of India’s foreignpolicy. Indo-Russian relations are

embedded in a history of trust andcommon interests and arematched by popular perceptions.Indian heroes from Raj Kapoor toAmitabh Bachhan are householdnames in Russia and many post-Soviet countries. One can hearHindi film songs all over theregion, and India is part of thepopular memory.

Russia and India share a visionof a multipolar world order. Whatthey mean by a multipolar world

Seven years after the Soviet Union collapsed, the Uzbekpassion for Indian films continues. Within months of therelease of the latest film in India, pirate copies were alreadyon sale in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

Mohammed Sharif Pat runs a shop selling Indian films nearone of Tashkent’s biggest markets. He is an Afghan whobrings videos from the Pakistani frontier town Peshawar.“There are many people who love Indian films here. I’d sayat least 70% of the people in Tashkent buy them. We sellabout 100 videos a day. I’ve just had to put in an order for athousand more,” he says. “The Uzbeks are Central Asians,they are part of Asia. They have a common culture. That’swhy they like Indian films.”

Despite the shared history, for many Indians living inUzbekistan, the passion the Uzbeks have for their films andfilm stars has come as a bit of a surprise. “Wherever we goand meet local dignitaries - even ministers or cabinetministers - during our conversation it is always mentioned,”says Ashok Shamer from the Indian embassy in Tashkent. “Thisshows that Indian films, culture, songs and especially RajKapoor have been household names here. Most of themcan sing some Hindi songs, they may not know the meaningbut their pronunciation is correct and they know the music,”he says. “I have found out that almost all my neighbourscan sing and play Hindi songs. This was really a big surpriseto me when I came to Uzbekistan.”

A report by the BBC’s Central Asia Correspondent Louise Hidalgo

BOLLYWOOD STIRS UZBEKPASSIONS

Make a list ofthe similaritiesbetweenIndia and theUSSR in theirpolitical andeconomicideologies.


FLASHBACK: INDIAAND THE USSR

During the Cold War era, India andthe USSR enjoyed a specialrelationship which led critics to saythat India was part of the Sovietcamp. It was a multi-dimensionalrelationship:

Economic: The Soviet Union assistedIndia’s public sector companies at atime when such assistance wasdifficult to get. It gave aid andtechnical assistance for steel plantslike Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam,and machinery plants like BharatHeavy Electricals Ltd., etc. The SovietUnion accepted Indian currency fortrade when India was short of foreignexchange.

Political: The Soviet Union supportedIndia’s positions on the Kashmir issuein the UN. It also supported Indiaduring its major conflicts, especiallyduring the war with Pakistan in 1971.India too supported Soviet foreignpolicy in some crucial but indirectways.

Military: India received most of itsmilitary hardware from the SovietUnion at a time when few othercountries were willing to part withmilitary technologies. The Soviet Unionentered into various agreementsallowing India to jointly producemilitary equipment.

Culture: Hindi films and Indian culturewere popular in the Soviet Union. Alarge number of Indian writers andartists visited the USSR.

order is the co-existence of several powers in theinternational system, collective security (in which anattack on any country is regarded as a threat to allcountries and requires a collective response), greaterregionalism, negotiated settlements of internationalconflicts, an independent foreign policy for all countries,and decision making through bodies like the UN thatshould be strengthened, democratised, and empowered.More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signedbetween India and Russia as part of the Indo-RussianStrategic Agreement of 2001.

India stands to benefit from its relationship withRussia on issues like Kashmir, energy supplies,sharing information on international terrorism,

STEPSSelect any five Cold War allies each of the SovietUnion and the US.

Divide the class accordingly (10 groups). Allot acountry to each group. Assign the group tocollect information on the political, social andeconomic profile of these countries during theCold War days.

They should also prepare a profile of thatcountry after the collapse of communism andsay what difference, if any, the disintegration ofthe second world made to that country.Each group is to present its findings to the entireclass. Ensure that students talk about howpeople of these countries felt about themselvesas citizens.

Ideas for the TeacherYou could link the students’ findings to the working of thedemocratic system and communist system and highlightthe pros and cons of both these systems.You could encourage the students to discuss if there is analternative to both communism and capitalism.


access to Central Asia, andbalancing its relations withChina. Russia stands to benefitfrom this relationship becauseIndia is the second largest armsmarket for Russia. The Indianmilitary gets most of its hardwarefrom Russia. Since India is an oil-importing nation, Russia isimportant to India and hasrepeatedly come to the assistanceof India during its oil crises. Indiais seeking to increase its energy

imports from Russia and therepublics of Kazakhstan andTurkmenistan. Cooperation withthese republics includespartnership and investment inoilfields. Russia is important forIndia’s nuclear energy plans andassisted India’s space industry bygiving, for example, the cryogenicrocket when India needed it.Russia and India havecollaborated on various scientificprojects.

1. Which among the following statements that describe the natureof Soviet economy is wrong?

a. Socialism was the dominant ideologyb. State ownership/control existed over the factors of productionc. People enjoyed economic freedomd. Every aspect of the economy was planned and controlled by

the State2. Arrange the following in chronological order:

a. Soviet invasion of Afghanistanb. Fall of the Berlin Wallc. Disintegration of the Soviet Uniond. Russian Revolution

3. Which among the following is NOT an outcome of the disintegrationof the USSR?

a. End of the ideological war between the US and USSRb. Birth of CISc. Change in the balance of power in the world orderd. Crises in the Middle East

4. Match the following:

Mikhail Gorbachev a. Successor of USSRShock Therapy b. Military pactRussia c. Introduced reformsBoris Yeltsin d. Economic modelWarsaw e. President of Russia

E x

e r

c i s

e s

i.ii.iii.iv.v.


E x

e

r

c

i

s

e

s

5. Fill in the blanks.

a. The Soviet political system was based on ___________________ideology.

b. _________________ was the military alliance started by the USSR.c. ____________________ party dominated the Soviet Union’s

political system.d. ______________________ initiated the reforms in the USSR in 1985.e. The fall of the ____________________ symbolised the end of the

Cold War. 6. Mention any three features that distinguish the Soviet economy from

that of a capitalist country like the US?

7. What were the factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reformsin the USSR?

8. What were the major consequences of the disintegration of theSoviet Union for countries like India?

9. What was Shock Therapy? Was this the best way to make a transitionfrom communism to capitalism?

10. Write an essay for or against the following proposition: “With thedisintegration of the second world, India should change its foreignpolicy and focus more on friendship with the US rather than withtraditional friends like Russia”.

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The End of Bipolarity - Prashanth Ellinancertbooks.prashanthellina.com/class_12.PoliticalScience... · world’ and the end of the Cold War. Germany, divided after the Second World