The End of Bipolarity — Class 12 Political Science

This chapter explains how the bipolar world order, dominated by the two superpowers after the Second World War, came to an end. The Soviet Union (USSR), born of the 1917 socialist revolution, built a planned, state-owned economy and led the 'second world' or socialist bloc, held together by the Warsaw Pact. Over time the system became bureaucratic, authoritarian and economically stagnant; it overspent on its military and satellite states while citizens grew aware of Western prosperity. Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms (perestroika and glasnost) to modernise the system, but loosening control unleashed forces he could not contain. East European communist regimes collapsed, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and a failed 1991 coup hastened the breakup. Boris Yeltsin emerged as Russia's leader, and in December 1991 Russia, Ukraine and Belarus dissolved the USSR, forming the Commonwealth of Independent States. The collapse ended the Cold War, left the US as the sole superpower, spread liberal democracy and capitalism, and created many new countries. Most post-communist states adopted 'shock therapy' guided by the IMF and World Bank, which caused deep economic ruin. India maintained warm ties, especially with Russia, sharing a vision of a multipolar world.