CHAPTER- 1

THE END OF BIPOLARITY

Q1 Write a note on Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid

Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.
`1 Vladimir (1917-1924) • Founder of the Bolshevik Communist
Lenin
party.
• Leader of the Russian Revolution of
1917 and the founder-head of the
USSR
• An outstanding theoretician and expert
of Marxism and a source of
inspiration for communists all over
the world.

2 Joseph Stalin (1924-1953) • Successor to Lenin.

• Began rapid industrialisation and
forcible collectivisation of agriculture.
• Credited with Soviet victory in the
Second World War.
• Held responsible for the Great Terror of
the 1930s, authoritarian functioning
 and elimination of rivals within the
party.

3 Nikita (1953-1964) • Criticized Stalin’s leadership style

Khrushchev • Introduced some reforms in 1956.
• Suggested “peaceful coexistence” with
the West
• Involved in suppressing popular
rebellion in Hungary and in the Cuban
missile crisis.

4 Leonid (1964- 1982) • Proposed Asian Collective Security

Brezhnev system
• Associated with the cooperation phase in
relations with the US.
• Involved in suppressing a popular
rebellion in Czechoslovakia and in
invading Afghanistan
5 Mikhail (1985-1991) • Last leader of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev introduced economic and political
reform policies of perestroika
(restructuring) and glasnost
(openness).
• Stopped the arms race with the US.
• Withdrew Soviet troops from
Afghanistan and eastern Europe.
• Helped in the unification of
Germany.
• Ended the Cold War.
• Blamed for the disintegration of the
Soviet Union.
6 Boris Yeltsin (1991- 1999) • The first elected President of Russia
• Rose to power in the Communist Party
and was made the Mayor of Moscow by
Gorbachev; later joined the critics of
Gorbachev and left the Communist
Party;
• Played a key role in dissolving the
Soviet Union
• Blamed for hardships suffered by
Russians in their transition from
communism to capitalism.

Q2 Explain the ideals of socialism?

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) came into being after the socialist
revolution in Russia in 1917.
 Ideals of socialism
a) Opposed to capitalism, and the need for an equal society.
b) To abolish the institution of private property.
c) Design a society based on principles of equality.
d) The Soviet political system centred around the communist party, and no other
political party or opposition was allowed.
e) The economy was planned and controlled by the state.

Q3 Explain the Soviet economy after second world war.

a) It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources
including oil, iron and steel, machinery production, and a transport sector
that connected its remotest areas with efficiency.
b) It had a domestic consumer industry that produced everything from pins
to cars, though their quality did not match that of the Western capitalist
countries.
c) 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.
d) There was no unemployment.
e) State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive
assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

Q4 Explain political system in USSR after second world war.

a) The Soviet system, however, became very bureaucratic and rigid, making
life very difficult for its citizens.
b) Lack of democracy and the absence of freedom of speech stifled people
who often expressed their dissent in jokes and cartoons.
c) The Soviet Union had tight control over all institutions and was
unaccountable to the people.
d) The party refused to recognise the urge of people in the fifteen different
republics that formed the Soviet Union to manage their own affairs
including their cultural affairs.

Q 5 How the Soviet Union managed to match arms race with US from time to
time, but at the great cost.
a) The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology, infrastructure (e.g.,
transport, power), and most importantly, in fulfilling the political or economic
aspirations of citizens.
b) The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system even further.
 c) Though wages continued to grow, productivity and technology fell considerably
behind that of the West.
d) This led to shortages in all consumer goods.
e) Food imports increased every year. The Soviet economy was faltering in the
late 1970s and became stagnant.

Q 6 How did Gorbachev’s reform led to crisis in the USSR.

a) Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and
democratisation within the country.
b) Gorbachev's reforms were gradualist and maintained many of the
macroeconomic aspects of the command economy (including price controls,
inconvertibility of the rouble, exclusion of private property ownership, and the
government monopoly over most means of production).
c) The reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist Party. A coup took
place in 1991 that was encouraged by Communist Party hardliners.
d) The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the old-style rule of
the Communist Party. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in opposing this
coup.
e) The Russian Republic, where Yeltsin won a popular election, began to shake
off centralised control.
f) Power began to shift from the Soviet centre to the republics, especially in the
more Europeanised part of the Soviet Union, which saw themselves as
sovereign states.
g) In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was
disbanded.
h) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned. Capitalism and
democracy were adopted as the bases for the post-Soviet republics.

Q 7 Role of Russia, the successor state of the Soviet Union or after

disintegration of USSR.
a) It inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council.
b) Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of the Soviet
Union.
c) It took over as the only nuclear state of the post-Soviet space and carried out
some nuclear disarmament measures with the US.

Q 8 Explain the economic reasons for disintegration of Soviet Union.

a) The internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic institutions, which
failed to meet the aspirations of the people.
 b) Economic stagnation for many years led to severe consumer shortages and a
large section of Soviet society began to doubt and question the system and to
do so openly.
c) The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and
military
d) Ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about the economic advance of
the West.

Q 9 Explain the administrative and political reasons for disintegration of Soviet

Union.
a) The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not
accountable to the people.
b) Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant
corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made.
c) The party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens.
d) The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics
including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania),
Ukraine, Georgia, and others proved to be the final and most immediate cause
for the disintegration of the USSR.

Q 10 What were the result or effect of disintegration of USSR?

a) The end of Cold War confrontations. The ideological dispute over whether the
socialist system would beat the capitalist system was not an issue any more
and end to arms race.
b) The US became the sole superpower. The capitalist economy was now the
dominant economic system internationally. Institutions like the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund became powerful advisors to all these countries
since they gave them loans for their transitions to capitalism.
c) The emergence of many new countries with its own identity, interests, and
economic and political difficulties. All these countries had their own independent
aspirations and choices.

Q 11 Explain shock therapy in post-communist regimes.

a) 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’.
b) Each of these countries was required to make a total shift to a capitalist
economy, which meant rooting out completely any structures evolved during
the Soviet period. a painful process of transition from an authoritarian socialist
system to a democratic capitalist system.
 c) Private ownership was to be the dominant pattern of ownership of property.
Privatisation of state assets and corporate ownership patterns were to be
immediately brought in.
d) Collective farms were to be replaced by private farming and capitalism in
agriculture.
e) The free trade regime and foreign direct investment (FDI) were to be the main
engines of change. This also involved openness to foreign investment, financial
opening up or deregulation, and currency convertibility.
f) Each state from this bloc was now linked directly to the West and not to each
other in the region. The Western capitalist states now became the leaders and
thus guided and controlled the development of the region through various
agencies and organisations.

Q12 What were the consequences of shock Therapy?

It brought ruin to the economies and disaster upon the people of the entire region.
a) The value of the ruble, the Russian currency, declined dramatically.
b) The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
c) The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security,
and Russia started to import food. The real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below
what it was in 1989.
d) The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed.
e) The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people
into poverty.
f) The middle classes were pushed to the periphery of society, and the academic
and intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated.
g) A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many
economic activities.
h) Privatisation led to new disparities. Post-Soviet states, especially Russia, were
divided between rich and poor regions. Unlike the earlier system, there was
now great economic inequality between people.
Q13 What were the conflict after disintegration of USSR.
a) Most of the former Soviet Republics are prone to conflicts, and many have had
civil wars and insurgencies.
b) In Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan, have had violent
secessionist movements
c) In Central Asia, Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for ten years till
2001
d) Countries and provinces are fighting over river waters.
e) All this has led to instability, making life difficult for the ordinary citizen.
Q14 Name the 15 republican countries after disintegration of USSR.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (see Belarus), Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Moldavia (see Moldova), Russia, Tadzhikistan (see Tajikistan),
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan
Q15 Define Commonwealth

• The Commonwealth of Nations was formed in 1949 to maintain an association

between countries that had once been part of the British colonies, but which
were considered 'free and equal'.

• It’s a diverse group with members among the largest, smallest, wealthiest and
poorest countries in the world. Commonwealth countries
have a sense of kinship and unity and are often described
as a ‘family of nations’. Share many cultural elements that
come from our similar colonial past, including the English
language, some sports, and similar systems of law,
education and government. The Head of the
Commonwealth is Queen Elizabeth II.

• The Commonwealth works on behalf of member countries to promote peace

and prosperity. This includes helping countries with small business
development, legislation, election monitoring, and human rights, particularly
promoting the role and rights of young people and of women. There are a large
number of organisations and networks under the umbrella of the
Commonwealth that carry out and support this work.

• There are 52 members of the Commonwealth at present

Q16 Write a note on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

• The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 12 States — Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
• In September 1993 the Heads of the CIS States signed an Agreement on the
creation of Economic Union to form common economic space grounded on free
movement of goods, services, labour force, capital.
• To bring together methods of regulating economic activity and create
favourable conditions for the development of direct production relations.

Flag of CIS States

Meaning of the colours:

• Sky-blue = peaceful sky, and spiritual sphere.

• White = purity, prosperity and
• yellow (gold) for the light, warmth, life and eternal

dignity.

Q17 Write a note on democratic politics and democratization in Russia.

 a) In Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan, have had violent
secessionist movements.
b) Moscow’s method of dealing with the Chechen rebels and indiscriminate
military bombings have led to many human rights violations but failed to deter
the aspirations for independence.
c) The constitutions of all these countries were drafted in a hurry and most,
including Russia, had a strong executive president with the widest possible
powers that rendered elected parliaments relatively weak.
d) Russia, started reviving in 2000, ten years after their independence. The reason
for the revival for most of their economies was the export of natural resources
like oil, natural gas and minerals.
e) Some amount of manufacturing has restarted.

Q18 Write a note on democratic politics and democratization in Central Asia

a) Note :- The Central Asia region (CA) comprises the countries
of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
b) In Central Asia, Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for ten years till
2001. The region as a whole has many religious conflicts. There were
movements against the existing governments in Kyrgyzstan. Countries and
provinces are fighting over river waters. All this has led to instability, making life
difficult for the ordinary citizen.
c) In Central Asia, the presidents had great powers, and several of them became
very authoritarian. For example, the presidents of Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan appointed themselves to power first for ten years and then extended
it for another ten years. They allowed no disagreement or opposition.
d) A judicial culture and independence of the judiciary was yet to be established
in most of these countries.
e) Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas producers.
The reason for the revival for most of their economies was the export of natural
resources like oil, natural gas and minerals. Other countries have gained
because of the oil pipelines that cross their territories for which they get rent.

Q19 Write a note on democratic politics and democratization in Balkan

republics.
The word Balkan is Turkish and means “mountain,” and the peninsula is certainly
dominated by this type of landform, especially in the west.
a) Note:- The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia—with all or part of each of those countries
 located within the peninsula. The most severe conflict took place in the Balkan
republics of Yugoslavia.
b) In Kosovo province the population was overpoweringly ethnic Albanian. But in
the entire country, Serbs were in majority. A narrow minded Serb nationalist
was very hostile to the Kosovo Albanians. They wanted the Serbs to dominate
the country. Many Serb leaders thought that Ethnic minorities like Albanians
should either leave the country or accept the dominance of the Serbs.
c) April 1999 Massacre was being carried out by the army of their own country,
working under the direction of a leader who came to power through democratic
elections.
d) The worst instances of killings based on ethnic prejudices in recent times.
Finally NATO countries intervened to stop this massacre.
e) First of all, there was a lack of incentive for political and economic reform.
f) Secondly, the weakness of the opposition and the resulting ruling parties to
abuse power.

Q 20 Write a note on the 21st Century ‘Arab Spring’.

a) The 21st century witnessed emergence of new developments for democracies
and democratization in West Asian countries, one such event is characterized
as Arab Spring that began in 2009.
b) Located in Tunisia, the Arab Spring took its roots where the struggle against
corruption, unemployment and poverty was started by the public which turned
into a political movement because the people considered the existing problems
as outcome of autocratic dictatorship.
c) The demand for democracy that started in Tunisia spread throughout the
Muslim-dominated Arab countries in West Asia.
d) Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power in Egypt since 1979, also collapsed as
a result of the massive democratic protests.
e) In addition, the influence of Arab Spring could also be seen in Yemen, Bahrain,
Libya and Syria where similar protests by the people led to democratic
awakening throughout the region.
Q21 Explain India’s relation with Post-communist countries.
a) During the Cold War era, India and the USSR enjoyed a special relationship
which led critics to say that India was part of the Soviet camp. It was a multi-
dimensional relationship:
b) Economic: The Soviet Union aided India’s public sector companies at a time
when such assistance was difficult to get. It gave aid and technical assistance
for steel plants like Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam, and machinery plants like
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., etc. The Soviet Union accepted Indian currency
for trade when India was short of foreign exchange.
c) Political: The Soviet Union supported India’s positions on the Kashmir issue in
the UN. It also supported India during its major conflicts, especially during the
 war with Pakistan in 1971. India too supported Soviet foreign policy in some
crucial but indirect ways.
d) Military: India received most of its military hardware from the Soviet Union at a
time when few other countries were willing to part with military technologies.
The Soviet Union entered into various agreements allowing India to jointly
produce military equipment.
e) Culture: Hindi films and Indian culture were popular in the Soviet Union. A large
number of Indian writers and artists visited the USSR. Indian heroes from Raj
Kapoor to Amitabh Bachchan are household names in Russia and many post
Soviet countries.
f) Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and assisted India’s space
industry by giving, for example, the cryogenic rocket when India needed it.

Page no 33 to 37 Ch-3
45 to 46 for second book

Note:- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), political and economic alliance of six Middle
Eastern countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain,
and Oman.

Q22 Explain First Gulf war/ Computer war

a) In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, rapidly occupying and subsequently
annexing it. After a series of diplomatic attempts failed at convincing Iraq to quit
its aggression, the United Nations mandated the liberation of Kuwait by force.
b) For the UN, this was a dramatic decision after years of deadlock during the Cold
War. The US President George H.W. Bush hailed the emergence of a ‘new
world order’. A massive coalition force of 660,000 troops from 34 countries
fought against Iraq and defeated it in what came to be known as the First Gulf
War.
c) The UN operation, which was called ‘Operation Desert Storm’, was
overwhelmingly American. An American general, Norman Schwarzkopf, led the
UN coalition and nearly 75 per cent of the coalition forces were from the US.
Although the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, had promised “the mother of all
battles”, the Iraqi forces were quickly defeated and forced to withdraw from
Kuwait.
d) The First Gulf War revealed the vast technological gap that had opened up
between the US military capability and that of other states. The highly publicised
use of so called ‘smart bombs’ by the US led some observers to call this a
‘computer war’. Widespread television coverage also made it a ‘video game
war’, with viewers around the world watching the destruction of Iraqi forces live
on TV in the comfort of their living rooms.
Q23 How US president Clinton responded on the bombing of the US embassies
in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in 1998?
a) These bombings were attributed to Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organisation strongly
influenced by extremist Islamist ideas.
b) Within a few days of this bombing, President Clinton ordered Operation Infinite
Reach, a series of cruise missile strikes on Al-Qaeda terrorist targets in Sudan
and Afghanistan.

Q24 Explain US Military action in Kosovo Balkan republics

a) In 1999 Clinton years, in response to Yugoslavian actions against the
predominantly Albanian population in the province of Kosovo.
b) The air forces of the NATO countries, led by the US, bombarded targets around
Yugoslavia for well over two months, forcing the downfall of the government of
Slobodan Milosevic and the stationing of a NATO force in Kosovo.

9/11 Terrorist attack https://youtu.be/GySgEL4NRFY

Q25 Explain 9/11 and the ‘global war on terror’.

a) On 11 September 2001, nineteen hijackers hailing from a number of Arab
countries took control of four American commercial aircraft shortly after take off
and flew them into important buildings in the US.
b) One airliner each crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade
Centre in New York. A third aircraft crashed into the Pentagon building in
Arlington county, Virginia where the US Defence Department is
headquartered. The fourth aircraft, presumably bound for the Capitol building
of the US Congress, came down in a field in Pennsylvania.
c) The attacks have come to be known as “9/11”. The attacks killed nearly three
thousand persons. In terms of their shocking effect on Americans,
d) Bush had a much harder view of US interests and of the means by which to
advance them. As a part of its ‘Global War on Terror’, the US launched
‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ against all those suspected to be behind this
attack, mainly Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
e) The initial objective of the US invasion of Afghanistan was to capture Bin Ladin.
Subsequently, however, other objectives were added, including establishing a
stable democratic state with the ability to sustain and defend itself, and the
prevention of the return of the Taliban to power and Bin Ladin to Afghanistan.

f) The Taliban regime was easily overthrown, but remnants of the Taliban and Al
Qaeda have remained powerful, as is clear from the number of terrorist attacks
launched by them against Western targets since.
 g) The US forces made arrests all over the world, often without the knowledge of
the government of the persons being arrested, transported these persons
across countries and detained them in secret prisons.
h) Some of them were brought to Guantanamo Bay, a US Naval base in Cuba,
where the prisoners did not enjoy the protection of international law or the law
of their own country or that of the US. Even the UN representatives were not
allowed to meet these prisoners.

Q26 Write a note on Second Gulf war or Iraq Invasion.

a) On 19 March 2003, the US launched its invasion of Iraq under the codename
‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. More than forty other countries joined in the US-
led ‘coalition of the willing’ after the UN refused to give its mandate to the
invasion.
b) The ostensible purpose of the invasion was to prevent Iraq from developing
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Since no evidence of WMD has been
unearthed in Iraq, it is speculated that the invasion was motivated by other
objectives, such as controlling Iraqi oilfields and installing a regime friendly to
the US.
c) Although the government of Saddam Hussein fell swiftly, the US has not been
able to ‘pacify’ Iraq. Instead, a full-fledged insurgency against US occupation
was ignited in Iraq.
d) While the US has lost over 3,000 military personnel in the war, Iraqi casualties
are very much higher. It is conservatively estimated that 50,000 Iraqi civilians
have been killed since the US-led invasion.
e) It is now widely recognised that the US invasion of Iraq was, in some crucial
respects, both a military and political failure.

TIMELINE OF DISINTEGRATION OF THE SOVIET UNION

1985 March: Mikhail Gorbachev elected as the General Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union; appoints Boris Yeltsin as the head of the Communist Party
in Moscow; initiates a series of reforms in the Soviet Union
1988: Independence movement begins in Lithuania; later spreads to Estonia and
Latvia
1989 October: Soviet Union declares that the Warsaw Pact members are free to
decide their own futures; Berlin Wall falls in November
1990 February: Gorbachev strips the Soviet Communist Party of its 72-year-long
monopoly on power by calling on the Soviet parliament (Duma) to permit multiparty
politics
1990 March: Lithuania becomes the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare its
independence
1990 June: Russian parliament declares its independence from the Soviet Union
1991 June: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, becomes the President of
Russia
1991 August: The Communist Party hardliners stage an abortive coup against
Gorbachev
1991 September: Three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become UN
members (later join NATO in March 2004)
1991 December: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decide to annul the 1922 Treaty on the
Creation of the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS);
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan join the CIS (Georgia joins later in 1993); Russia takes over the USSR
seat in the United Nations
1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; the end
of the Soviet Union
Map and Cartoon Questions
Sample map Question

Ans
a B USSR
b A Afghanistan
c D,E Balgaria, Serbia
d C Tajikistan

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