Abstract:
The collapse of the Soviet Union completely changed the structure of the world. It transformed it into a unipolar system. One man, Mikhail Gorbachev, is usually credited with the collapse of communism, fall of the USSR and the end of the cold war. There are many other reasons that can be credited for the demise of this great behemoth, such as; the economy, the failure of the ideology, the ethnic and social issues. The purpose of this case study will be to discover the extent to which Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies and personality contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and how well he managed the impending transformation. The focus will be on the years that Gorbachev was in power (1985-91) and interpreting what the consequences of his decisions and actions were. I will argue during the course of my research that the Soviet Union was already teetering on the brink of collapse and would have eventually disintegrated but the policies and personality of Mikhail Gorbachev was a major factor in speeding along the process and managing the transformation in the best possible way. The ideology of Soviet Union was far removed from actual Socialism and was only a means for the communist party to maintain control over the society. Apart from this the economic and social conditions of the country along with the international element managed to weaken the state to such an extent that it could not be salvaged.
