The End of Bipolarity, Class 12 Political Science

What The End of Bipolarity is about

Weightage: Contemporary World Politics: The End of Bipolarity carries 6 of the 80 theory marks.Source: CBSE Political Science (028) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

The Soviet system

NCERT section What was the Soviet system?

Origins: the USSR came into being after the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917, inspired by socialism and the need for an egalitarian society. It was perhaps the biggest attempt in history to abolish private property and build a society on equality, giving primacy to the state and the party.

Political system: centred on the Communist Party; no other party or opposition was allowed.

Economy: planned and controlled by the state; state ownership of land and productive assets was dominant.

The Second World: after the Second World War, East European countries liberated from fascist forces by the Soviet army came under Soviet control and copied its systems. This 'socialist bloc' or Second World was held together by the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance, led by the USSR.

Strengths: after the war the USSR became a great power; its economy was more developed than the rest of the world except the US. It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources (oil, iron and steel), machinery production, efficient transport, and a consumer industry making 'everything from pins to cars' (though of lower quality than Western goods). The state ensured a minimum standard of living and subsidised health, education, childcare and welfare.

Weaknesses:

• Very bureaucratic and authoritarian; lack of democracy and freedom of speech, with dissent expressed in jokes and cartoons.
• The one-party system controlled every institution and answered to no one.
• The party ignored the wish of the fifteen republics to manage their own affairs; though Russia was formally one of fifteen, it dominated everything, and others felt neglected and suppressed.
• The arms race was matched at great cost; the USSR lagged in technology, infrastructure and meeting citizens' aspirations.
• The invasion of Afghanistan (1979) weakened it further; productivity and technology fell behind; shortages of consumer goods and rising food imports; by the late 1970s the economy was stagnant.

Worked example

How did the Soviet economy differ from a capitalist economy such as that of the US? Give three differences. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Soviet economy was planned and controlled by the state, while a capitalist economy runs mainly through markets.
2. State ownership of land and productive assets was dominant, unlike private ownership in a capitalist economy.
3. The Soviet state guaranteed a minimum standard of living and subsidised basic necessities such as health, education and childcare.

Answer: State planning and control, state ownership of land and productive assets, and state-guaranteed minimum living standards with subsidised necessities.

Gorbachev and the disintegration

NCERT section Gorbachev and the Disintegration; Timeline

Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985 and set out to reform the system so the USSR could keep up with the information and technological revolutions of the West. His policies were perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness); he also normalised relations with the West.

Unintended effects:

• People in the East European countries protested against their governments and Soviet control. This time the USSR did not intervene, and communist regimes fell one after another.
• Inside the USSR, a rapidly escalating crisis followed. Reforms were opposed by Communist Party leaders.
• In 1991, Communist Party hardliners staged a coup. People who had tasted freedom resisted, and Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero. The Russian Republic, where Yeltsin had won a popular election, shook off central control.
• Power shifted to the republics, especially the more Europeanised ones, which saw themselves as sovereign. The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to stay in the Soviet Federation.
• In December 1991, led by Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared the Soviet Union disbanded. The Communist Party was banned; capitalism and democracy were adopted.
• The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed; its formation surprised the Central Asian republics, whose exclusion was solved by making them founding members.
• Russia became the successor state: it inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council, accepted all Soviet treaties and commitments, and became the only nuclear state of the post-Soviet space.

Key timeline: 1985 Gorbachev elected General Secretary; 1988 independence movement begins in Lithuania; 1989 Warsaw Pact members free to decide their futures, Berlin Wall falls; February 1990 multi-party politics permitted; March 1990 Lithuania first republic to declare independence; June 1991 Yeltsin President of Russia; August 1991 abortive coup; December 1991 CIS formed; 25 December 1991 Gorbachev resigns: end of the Soviet Union.

Worked example

Why did Gorbachev initiate reforms in the USSR? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Soviet economy had stagnated, with shortages of consumer goods and rising food imports, and it lagged behind the West in technology.
2. Reforms were needed to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions in the West and to loosen a stifling, unaccountable administration.

Answer: To revive a stagnant, technologically backward economy and reform an unaccountable, over-centralised system so the USSR could keep up with the West.

Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate?

NCERT section Why did the Soviet Union Disintegrate?

1. Internal weaknesses of political and economic institutions that failed to meet people's aspirations. Years of stagnation caused severe consumer shortages, and many began to question the system openly.

2. Economic burden: much of the economy's resources went into the nuclear and military arsenal and developing satellite states in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system (especially the five Central Asian republics).

3. Awareness of the West: citizens learnt about Western economic advances; after years of being told their system was better, the reality of backwardness was a political and psychological shock.

4. Administrative and political stagnation: the Communist Party had ruled for over 70 years without accountability. People were alienated by slow, stifling administration, rampant corruption, inability to correct mistakes, unwillingness to allow openness, and centralisation in a vast land. Party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens, so the government lost popular backing.

5. Gorbachev's reforms: his diagnosis was accurate, but loosening the system unleashed forces and expectations that became impossible to control. Some wanted faster change and were disappointed; others, especially party members, felt their power was eroding too quickly. In this 'tug of war' Gorbachev lost support on all sides.

6. Rise of nationalism (the final and most immediate cause): demands for sovereignty in Russia, the Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia and others.

• One view: nationalist feelings existed throughout Soviet history and an internal struggle would have happened anyway.
• Another view: Gorbachev's reforms sped up nationalist dissatisfaction beyond control.
• Ironically, unrest was expected in Central Asia, but it was strongest in the more 'European' and prosperous parts, whose people felt they paid too high a price to keep backward areas in the Union.

Worked example

Explain any four causes of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Economic stagnation and consumer shortages, worsened by spending on the nuclear and military arsenal and satellite states.
2. Political stagnation: an unaccountable Communist Party, corruption, centralisation and privileges for bureaucrats alienated people.
3. Gorbachev's reforms unleashed expectations he could not control; he lost support of both reformers and hardliners.
4. The rise of nationalism in Russia, the Baltic republics, Ukraine and Georgia was the final and most immediate cause.

Answer: Economic stagnation and military burden, political unaccountability, uncontrolled effects of Gorbachev's reforms, and the rise of nationalism in the republics.

Consequences of disintegration

NCERT section Consequences of Disintegration

The collapse of the Second World had profound consequences for world politics. The textbook notes three broad, enduring changes:

1. End of Cold War confrontations: the ideological dispute over whether socialism would beat capitalism was over. Since that dispute had engaged the military of the two blocs, triggered a massive arms race and nuclear weapons build-up, and created military blocs, its end demanded an end to the arms race and a possible new peace.

2. Changed power relations: only two possibilities were left: a unipolar system dominated by the remaining superpower, or a multipolar system of several players. As it turned out, the US became the sole superpower.

• The capitalist economy became internationally dominant.
• The World Bank and IMF became powerful advisers, giving loans for transitions to capitalism.
• Politically, liberal democracy emerged as the best way to organise political life.

3. Emergence of many new countries, each with its own aspirations:

• The Baltic and East European states wanted to join the European Union and NATO.
• The Central Asian countries wanted to use their location, keep close ties with Russia, and build ties with the West, the US, China and others.
• So the international system saw many new players with their own identities, interests and difficulties.

Worked example

What were the consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union for world politics? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The end of Cold War confrontations, ending the ideological dispute and demanding an end to the arms race.
2. A change in power relations: the US became the sole superpower in a unipolar system.
3. Capitalism became the dominant economic system, the World Bank and IMF became powerful advisers, and liberal democracy was seen as the best political model.
4. Many new countries emerged: Baltic and East European states sought to join the EU and NATO; Central Asian states kept ties with Russia while reaching out to others.

Answer: End of the Cold War and arms race, a unipolar world led by the US with capitalism and liberal democracy dominant, and the emergence of many new states.

Shock therapy and its consequences

NCERT section Shock Therapy in Post-Communist Regimes; Consequences of Shock Therapy

Shock therapy was the model of transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist one in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, influenced by the World Bank and IMF. Its intensity and speed varied, but its direction and features were similar.

Features:

• A total shift to a capitalist economy, rooting out Soviet-era structures.
• Private ownership as the dominant pattern; immediate privatisation of state assets; corporate ownership.
• Collective farms replaced by private farming and capitalism in agriculture.
• No 'third way' between state socialism and capitalism.
• Free trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) as the main engines of change, with financial deregulation and currency convertibility.
• Break-up of existing trade alliances among Soviet bloc countries; each was linked directly to the West, which guided the region through various agencies.

Consequences (1990s):

• It did not bring the promised 'utopia of mass consumption'; generally it ruined economies and brought disaster to people.
• In Russia about 90 per cent of industries were put up for sale; whole industries virtually disappeared. This was called 'the largest garage sale in history', as valuable industries were sold at throwaway prices. Citizens got vouchers but most sold them on the black market.
• The ruble collapsed; high inflation wiped out savings.
• The collective farm system disintegrated, ending food security; Russia began importing food.
• Russia's real GDP in 1999 was below 1989.
• The social welfare system was destroyed; withdrawal of subsidies pushed many into poverty; the middle classes were marginalised; intellectuals migrated; a mafia emerged; new inequalities grew between people and regions. About half of Russia's 1,500 banks and financial institutions went bankrupt (Inkombank, 1998).
• Democracy got less attention than economic change: constitutions were drafted in a hurry with strong executive presidents and weak parliaments; in Central Asia presidents became very authoritarian (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan presidents extended their rule ten years at a time); judicial independence was yet to be established.

Revival: from 2000, economies (especially Russia's) revived mainly through exports of oil, natural gas and minerals. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan produce large amounts of oil and gas; other states earn rent from pipelines crossing their land.

Worked example

What was shock therapy? Was it the best way to make the transition from communism to capitalism? (6 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Definition: the World Bank- and IMF-influenced model of rapid transition from authoritarian socialism to democratic capitalism in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
2. Features: total shift to capitalism, privatisation of state assets, private farming, free trade, FDI, currency convertibility, and breaking old trade alliances to link each state to the West.
3. Economic results: about 90 per cent of Russian industries put on sale ('largest garage sale in history'), ruble collapse, inflation wiping out savings, loss of food security, 1999 GDP below 1989.
4. Social results: welfare destroyed, poverty, marginalised middle classes, mafia, new inequalities.
5. Political results: hurried constitutions, strong presidents, weak parliaments, authoritarian rule in Central Asia, weak judiciaries.
6. Judgement: it was not the best way; the sudden, market-led transition caused widespread hardship; a more gradual, state-guided approach with attention to democratic institutions might have reduced the costs. Revival came only after 2000, largely through natural resource exports.

Answer: Shock therapy was a sudden, externally guided switch to capitalism; its economic, social and political costs suggest it was not the best way to make the transition.

Tensions and conflicts in post-Soviet states and the Balkans

NCERT section Tensions and Conflicts

Most former Soviet republics are prone to conflicts, with civil wars and insurgencies, complicated by the involvement of outside powers.

Within Russia: Chechnya and Dagestan have had violent secessionist movements. Moscow's methods against Chechen rebels, including indiscriminate bombing, led to human rights violations but did not end demands for independence.

Central Asia and the Caucasus:

• Tajikistan had a civil war for ten years, till 2001.
• In Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh, some local Armenians want to secede and join Armenia.
• In Georgia, two provinces demanded independence, leading to civil war.
• Movements against regimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia; disputes over river waters.

Great-power competition in Central Asia: the region has vast hydrocarbon resources and is a zone of competition between outside powers and oil companies. It borders Russia, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan and is close to West Asia.

• After 11 September 2001, the US paid Central Asian governments to hire military bases and use airspace during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• Russia sees these states as its 'Near Abroad', under its influence.
• China has interests in oil; Chinese settlers trade along the borders.

Eastern Europe:

• Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
• The most severe conflict was in the Balkan republics of Yugoslavia: after 1991 provinces such as Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence; ethnic Serbs opposed this, a massacre of non-Serb Bosnians followed, and NATO intervened and bombed Yugoslavia after the inter-ethnic civil war.

Worked example

Give any two examples of conflicts in the former Soviet republics and explain why Central Asia attracts outside powers. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Chechnya and Dagestan in Russia have had violent secessionist movements; Tajikistan had a ten-year civil war till 2001 (also Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia).
2. Central Asia has vast hydrocarbon resources, making it a zone of competition for outside powers and oil companies.
3. Its location next to Russia, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan and near West Asia gives it strategic value: the US hired bases after 11 September 2001.
4. Russia regards it as its 'Near Abroad', and China has oil interests and border trade.

Answer: Chechnya and Tajikistan (among others); Central Asia's oil and gas and strategic location draw the US, Russia and China.

India and post-communist countries

NCERT section India and Post-Communist Countries; Flashback: India and the USSR

India has good relations with all post-communist countries, but the strongest are with Russia, an important aspect of India's foreign policy, rooted in trust, common interests and popular perceptions. Indian film stars from Raj Kapoor to Amitabh Bachchan are household names across the region; Hindi film songs are heard everywhere (for example, the BBC report on Bollywood's popularity in Tashkent, Uzbekistan).

Flashback: India and the USSR during the Cold War (critics said India was part of the Soviet camp):

• Economic: aid and technical help for public sector units such as steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam and machinery plants like BHEL; accepted Indian currency for trade when India lacked foreign exchange.
• Political: supported India's position on Kashmir at the UN and during conflicts, especially the 1971 war with Pakistan; India supported Soviet foreign policy in some indirect ways.
• Military: most of India's military hardware; agreements for joint production.
• Cultural: Hindi films and Indian culture were popular; Indian writers and artists visited.

Shared vision of a multipolar world order: co-existence of several powers; collective security (an attack on any country is a threat to all and needs a collective response); greater regionalism; negotiated settlement of conflicts; independent foreign policies; and decisions through a strengthened, democratised UN.

The relationship today: more than 80 bilateral agreements under the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.

• India gains on Kashmir, energy supplies, information on international terrorism, access to Central Asia and balancing relations with China. Russia has helped in India's oil crises; India seeks more energy from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, including investment in oilfields. Russia is important for India's nuclear energy plans and helped its space industry (the cryogenic rocket); they collaborate on science.
• Russia gains because India is its second largest arms market; the Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia.

Worked example

How do India and Russia benefit from their relationship? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. India: support on Kashmir, energy supplies and help in oil crises, investment in Central Asian oilfields.
2. India: information on international terrorism, access to Central Asia and balancing relations with China.
3. India: help for nuclear energy plans, space (cryogenic rocket) and scientific collaboration.
4. Russia: India is its second largest arms market, and the Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia.

Answer: India gains diplomatic support, energy, security cooperation and technology; Russia gains a major arms market.

The End of Bipolarity in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Soviet System
• Disintegration of the Soviet Union
• Shock Therapy and Its Consequences

The End of Bipolarity: key facts

Berlin Wall

Built 1961; over 150 km; stood 28 years; broken 9 November 1989

Symbol of the Cold War; led to German unification.

Soviet leaders

Lenin 1917-24; Stalin 1924-53; Khrushchev 1953-64; Brezhnev 1964-82; Gorbachev 1985-91; Yeltsin (Russia) 1991-99

Gorbachev: perestroika and glasnost.

Soviet system

One party (CPSU) + state-planned economy + state ownership + minimum living standards + Warsaw Pact bloc

15 republics, Russia dominant.

Disintegration timeline

1985	Gorbachev
1988	Lithuania movement
1989	Berlin Wall
1990	(Feb) multi-party politics
1990	(Mar) Lithuania independence
1991	(Jun) Yeltsin President
1991	(Aug) coup
1991	(Dec) CIS
1991	(25 Dec) end of USSR

Baltic states UN members Sept 1991, NATO 2004.

Causes of collapse

Economic stagnation + military/satellite burden + awareness of the West + unaccountable party + Gorbachev's uncontrollable reforms + nationalism

Nationalism: final and most immediate cause.

Three consequences

End of Cold War confrontation; unipolar world (US, capitalism, World Bank and IMF, liberal democracy); many new countries

Baltic/East Europe toward EU and NATO.

Shock therapy features

Privatisation + private farming + free trade + FDI + deregulation + currency convertibility + break-up of bloc trade links

Influenced by World Bank and IMF.

Shock therapy results

• •90% Russian industries for sale ('largest garage sale in history')
• •ruble fall
• •inflation
• •food imports
• •1999 GDP below 1989
• •half of 1,500 banks bankrupt

Revival from 2000 via oil, gas, minerals.

Conflicts

Chechnya, Dagestan (Russia); Tajikistan civil war to 2001; Nagorno-Karabakh; Georgia; Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia; NATO bombing)

Czechoslovakia split peacefully.

India-USSR (Cold War)

Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam, BHEL; rupee trade; support on Kashmir and in 1971; arms and joint production; culture

Critics said India was in the Soviet camp.

India-Russia today

Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement 2001; 80+ agreements; multipolar world vision; India second largest arms market for Russia

Energy, nuclear, space (cryogenic rocket).

How the board asks The End of Bipolarity

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember The End of Bipolarity

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Soviet leaders in order

  "Little Stars Keep Burning Gloriously": Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev (then Yeltsin in Russia).

  Use it when: Matching and chronology.

• Three consequences

  "End, Uni, New": End of Cold War; Unipolar world; New countries.

  Use it when: 4-mark consequences answer.

• Shock therapy features

  "PP-FF-CB": Privatisation, Private farms, Free trade, FDI, Currency convertibility, Breaking bloc links.

  Use it when: Features of shock therapy.

• The three who ended the USSR

  "RUB": Russia, Ukraine, Belarus disbanded the Soviet Union in December 1991.

  Use it when: CIS questions.

• Steel plants with Soviet help

  "BBV": Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam.

  Use it when: India-USSR flashback.

The End of Bipolarity: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in The End of Bipolarity

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Saying the USSR collapsed because of a war or defeat

  Students assume great powers fall through war.

  Wrong working

  The Soviet Union collapsed after losing the Cold War to the US.

  Right working

  The Cold War ended not by military means but through mass actions of ordinary people; the USSR disintegrated because of internal weaknesses, uncontrollable reforms and nationalism.

  ✓Do this: Use the textbook's causes, not a 'defeat' story.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks in a 4-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Assuming Central Asia led the break-up

  Its ethnic and religious differences seem a likely cause.

  ✓Do this: Nationalism was strongest in the European, prosperous republics (Russia, Baltics, Ukraine, Georgia); Central Asia wanted to stay in the Union.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in MCQs or A-R.

• ✗Mistake: Writing only economic effects of shock therapy

  The term sounds purely economic.

  ✓Do this: Add social (welfare, poverty, mafia, inequality) and political (strong presidents, weak parliaments) effects.

  Usually costs: 2 marks in a 6-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up leaders' roles

  Many Soviet leaders appear in boxes.

  ✓Do this: Gorbachev: reforms and end of USSR; Yeltsin: opposed coup, first elected Russian President; Brezhnev: Afghanistan invasion; Khrushchev: peaceful coexistence.

  Usually costs: 1 mark per MCQ.

• ✗Mistake: Listing India-Russia benefits only for India

  Students forget Russia's side.

  ✓Do this: Add that India is Russia's second largest arms market.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in a 4-mark answer.

NCERT exercise guide: The End of Bipolarity

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on The End of Bipolarity

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Who was the first elected President of Russia?
   (a) Mikhail Gorbachev
   (b) Boris Yeltsin
   (c) Leonid Brezhnev
   (d) Nikita Khrushchev

   Hint

   He opposed the 1991 coup.

   Answer

   (b) Boris Yeltsin (1991-1999).

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Match:
   i. Shock therapy a. Military pact
   ii. Mikhail Gorbachev b. Economic model
   iii. Warsaw c. Introduced reforms
   iv. Russia d. Successor of USSR
   (a) i-b, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d
   (b) i-a, ii-c, iii-b, iv-d
   (c) i-b, ii-d, iii-a, iv-c
   (d) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a

   Hint

   Transition model, perestroika, alliance, UN seat.

   Answer

   (a) i-b, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Which was the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence?
   (a) Ukraine
   (b) Estonia
   (c) Lithuania
   (d) Georgia

   Hint

   March 1990.

   Answer

   (c) Lithuania.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): After 2000, most post-Soviet economies, especially Russia, began to revive.
   Reason (R): They exported natural resources such as oil, natural gas and minerals.
   Choose (a)-(d).

   Hint

   Reason for revival.

   Answer

   (a) Both are true and R explains A.

5. Q5 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   What were perestroika and glasnost? (2 marks)

   Hint

   Gorbachev's reforms.

   Answer

   Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) were the economic and political reform policies introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union (1985-91).

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   Why was the Communist Party of the Soviet Union unpopular with ordinary people by the 1980s? (4 marks)

   Hint

   Accountability, corruption, privileges, republics.

   Answer

   It had ruled for over 70 years without being accountable to the people. Administration was slow and stifling, corruption was rampant, mistakes were not corrected and openness was not allowed. Authority was centralised in a vast land, and party bureaucrats enjoyed more privileges than ordinary citizens. It also ignored the urge of the fifteen republics to manage their own affairs, while Russia dominated. So people stopped identifying with the system and its rulers.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   Explain the political consequences of shock therapy in the post-communist countries. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Constitutions, presidents, parliaments, courts.

   Answer

   Building democratic institutions got less priority than economic transformation. Constitutions were drafted in a hurry. Most, including Russia's, created strong executive presidents with very wide powers, making elected parliaments weak. In Central Asia presidents became authoritarian: those of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan extended their terms by ten years at a time and allowed no dissent. A judicial culture and independent judiciary were yet to be established in most countries.

8. Q8 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   Some argue that after the Soviet collapse India should give priority to friendship with the US over traditional partners such as Russia. Argue for or against this view. (6 marks)

   Hint

   Use the chapter's facts on India-Russia relations and the unipolar world.

   Answer

   Against (one possible answer): India-Russia ties rest on trust and common interests and popular goodwill; Russia helped India's public sector, supported it on Kashmir and in 1971; India and Russia share a vision of a multipolar world with collective security and a democratised UN; the 2001 Strategic Agreement led to over 80 agreements; India benefits on Kashmir, energy (help in oil crises, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), counter-terrorism information, access to Central Asia, balancing China, nuclear energy and space (cryogenic rocket); the Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia. In a unipolar world, an independent foreign policy suggests building good relations with the US too, but not at the cost of a trusted partner. Conclusion: India should engage the US while keeping its strong ties with Russia. (A 'for' answer must also use evidence and argue balance.)

9. Q9 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose a country decides to sell almost all its state-owned factories within a year to private buyers, giving citizens vouchers to take part. Using Russia's experience, predict two likely problems and suggest one safeguard. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Garage sale, vouchers, inequality.

   Answer

   Problems: factories may be undervalued and sold at throwaway prices (as in 'the largest garage sale in history'), and whole industries may disappear because restructuring is left to market forces; citizens needing cash may sell vouchers cheaply in the black market, concentrating ownership and creating new inequalities. Safeguard: a gradual, government-guided industrial policy, fair valuation of assets and protection of welfare and savings during the transition.

10. Q10 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

    Why did the Central Asian republics react with surprise to the formation of the CIS, and how was this resolved? (2 marks)

    Hint

    They had not asked for independence.

    Answer

    The Central Asian republics had not asked for independence and wanted to stay in the Soviet Federation, so the declaration by Russia, Ukraine and Belarus surprised them. Their exclusion was quickly solved by making them founding members of the CIS.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.When was the USSR formed?Show answer

   After the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917.

2. 2.What was the Second World?Show answer

   The group of East European countries under Soviet control, modelled on the USSR and held together by the Warsaw Pact.

3. 3.When did Gorbachev resign, marking the end of the Soviet Union?Show answer

   On 25 December 1991.

4. 4.Which country inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council?Show answer

   Russia.

5. 5.What is 'Near Abroad'?Show answer

   Russia's term for the Central Asian states, which it believes should be under Russian influence.

6. 6.Which country split peacefully after the end of communism?Show answer

   Czechoslovakia, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

7. 7.What is collective security?Show answer

   An arrangement in which aggression against one country is treated as a threat to every country, calling for a joint response.

8. 8.How many bilateral agreements were signed under the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001?Show answer

   More than 80.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you give three facts about the Berlin Wall?
• ☐Can you list four features and four weaknesses of the Soviet system?
• ☐Can you explain perestroika and glasnost and why Gorbachev introduced them?
• ☐Can you recite the timeline from 1985 to 25 December 1991?
• ☐Can you give six causes of the disintegration and two views on nationalism?
• ☐Can you state the three broad consequences?
• ☐Can you define shock therapy and list its features and results?
• ☐Can you name four post-Soviet conflicts?
• ☐Can you describe India-USSR ties in four fields?
• ☐Can you list what India and Russia each gain today?

The End of Bipolarity: frequently asked questions