question_answer

Examine any six consequences of the disintegration of USSR.

Or

'Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) has become irrelevant today.' Do you agree with the statement? Support your answer with any three suitable arguments.

 

Answer:

The disintegration of the second world of the Soviet Union and the socialist systems in Eastern Europe had unfathomable consequences for world politics. These consequences are:

(i) Disintegration of the Soviet Union meant the end of Cold War confrontations. The ideological controversy over whether the socialist system would drub the capitalist system was not a purport any more. The engagement of army and arms race is ended now.

(ii) The US became the sole superpower. Backed by the power and prestige of the US, the capitalist economy was now the dominant economic system now. Organizations like World Bank and IMF became powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them loans for their transition to capitalism.

(iii) Disintegration of the Soviet Union led the foundation for me emergence of many new countries. All these countries had their own independent aspirations and choices. Some of them, especially the Baltic and east European states, wanted to join the European Union and become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

(iv) Disintegration of the Soviet Union ended the bipolar system and led the foundation of unipolar system.

(v) Privatization of state assets and corporate ownership patterns were to be immediately brought in. Collective farms were to be replaced by private farming and capitalism.

(vi) Disintegration of the Soviet Union resulted a breakup of the existing trade alliances among the countries of the Soviet bloc. Each state from this bloc was now linked directly to the West and not to each other in the region. These states were thus to be gradually absorbed into the Western economic system.

Or

Non-alignment, as the name suggests, means a decision of not associating oneself with any of the groups. This policy was of great relevance till the cold war. But then the cold war ended and with the collapse of Soviet Union the world order started to change. The world since the cold war has had wide-ranging impact on global politics. With the disappearance of Bi-polar system followed by uni-polarity and now with changing nature of power and power relations, with the rise of India, China and other powers; the world is moving towards multi-polarity. Thus, it has posed a new fundamental question of ?Non-alignment? against whom? Today, in the era of liberalization and globalization the world has become a unified society where all nations depend on each other for trade and commerce. The world has become cosmopolitan and a country cannot survive if it follows the ?policy of isolation? or ?policy of non-interference?. In such a scenario, relevance of NAM is often questioned. Even though the goals of NAM have changed since its formation, it cannot be said to occupy the same position in the international society as it enjoyed earlier. Today it?s more focused on economic issues, issues like terrorism, health. Moreover there is practically nothing innovative or fruitful regarding its meetings and conferences. NAM summits are merely a repetition of the resolutions of the UN and its agencies. Thus, the scheduling of regular summit meetings and increasing membership of NAM cannot be considered any evidence of its relevance.