The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a loose confederation of 15 republics with Russia as the leader. USSR was a strong bloc with great control over global politics from 1922 to 1991, when it was disintegrated into smaller units. 

Reasons for the collapse of the USSR

1.Economic Weakness - The weakness of the economy was the major cause of dissatisfaction among the people in USSR. There was sever shortage of consumer items. The reason for economics weakness were the following.

1. Huge military spending.
2. Maintenance of satellite states in Easter Europe.
3. Maintenance of the Central Asian Republics within the USSR.

2. Political Un-accountability - The communist party regime (single party rule) for around 70 years turned authoritarian. There was widespread corruption, nepotism and lack of transparency. Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

3. Gorbachev’s reforms - Once people started to enjoy freedom under Micheal Gorbachev’s reforms, they demanded more. The demand grew into a big force which turned difficult to control. The people wanted to catch up with the west quickly.

4. Rise of nationalism - The rise of nationalism among countries like Russia, Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia etc. is the most important and immediate cause of the disintegration of the USSR. The national feeling was strong among the more prosperous areas in the USSR and not in Central Asian republics. Ordinary people in prosperous republics didn’t like to pay a big price to uplift the backward Central Asian republics.

Impact of the disintegration of the Soviet Union

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and collapse of the Socialist system in East European countries had major consequences on World Politics:

• End of Cold War- The collapse of the Soviet Union brought an end to the Cold War politics. It ended the mutual suspension, fear, tensions and hostilities that existed between the two blocs, that is, the US and the USSR. The dispute that had triggered off a massive arms race and formation of military alliances between the two superpowers was no longer in existence.
• Capitalism emerged as a dominant ideology- The collapse of the Soviet Union also revealed the weaknesses of the communist system and represented the defeat of the socialist model of economy and governance, with liberal democratic capitalist system emerging as the dominant ideology. Following the collapse of the socialist model, many countries including India adopted more liberal economic policies endorsing liberalisation, privatisation, opening up the economy to foreign investors, etc.
• Change in power equation- The disintegration of the Soviet Union ended the bipolarity that had characterised world politics after the Second World War. It opened the options of a unipolar world, where one country would dominate the world affairs, or a multipolar world, where a number of powerful countries would influence world politics.
• Emergence of a unipolar world- The fall of the Soviet Union resulted in the shift of power towards the US, which emerged as a superpower dominating and influencing global politics. The world witnessed the rise of the US as a hegemon, with its largest military base, dominant capitalist economic system and profound cultural influence over other countries, including India. In this regard, we may cite the example of India’s rethink on its policies with the US after the disintegration.
• Emergence of new countries- The fall of the Soviet Union resulted in the rise of many new countries. The 15 Union Republics of the former Soviet Union became independent countries with their own distinct identity and political aspirations. While many of these countries chose to become members of the EU and NATO, others maintained close ties with Russia. Thus, we saw the rise of many new players in international politics.

The disintegration had its profound implications on countries like India which had to redefine its own foreign policy. Financial aid from the Soviet Union almost came to an end, bringing India into the brink of an economic crisis that compelled the country to open its economy to private players. Moreover, Russian defence supplies to India declined after the disintegration. Thus, it opened new challenges for India to rework its strategies and forge closer ties with the US.