The Collapse of the U.S.S.R Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Collapse of the U.S.S.R - Research Paper Example Communism as an alternative economic order was argued to have been â€Å"designed to avoid the wasteful and chaotic competition of capitalism and to move the country quickly ttoward industrial development.† (Strayer, 1998, page 6). It was the economy of Soviet Union that had given the material foundation for the country to become victorious in the Second World War. It also viewed as a model of rapid industrial growth for a number of Third World countries. Such was a planned economy which believed in the power of the state to plan and dictate what needs to be produced for users and consumers (Strayer, 1998). This paper will attempt to explain the collapse of USSR as a regime in the light of the experience of other empires, in relation to how ordinary mortals behave and the underlying concepts of communism and alternative economic order of capitalism Soviet was known to have its huge and growing military expertise during the Cold War. However such claims to superpower status were believed to be grounded on breakable and weakening economic foundation as seen in the 1970s and 1980s. This weak economic condition was said to have been caused by an "imperial overstretch". (Strayer, 1998, p.17). Instead of prioritizing its economic needs, USSR needed to join or maintain the race for nuclear and conventional weapons. This was also the reason why USSR made its expensive commitments in Eastern Europe and Third World. This heavy spending was believed to have undermined strongly its domestic consumer economy in the process. The Soviet leadership was aware of the problems of relationship between its international standing and declining economic base and the perception substantially caused the needed reform. Reform efforts in the late 1980s because of these perceived problems in the regime were actually made but they were not enough to prevent the collapse. The failure of communism as