Match List I with List II

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II

The correct answer is Option 4 - A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II

Explanation:

Mikhail Gorbachev (Born 1931) Last leader of the Soviet Union (1985- 91); 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.

The end of the Cold War meant the end of bipolarity. It meant 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. Since this dispute had engaged the military of the two blocs, had triggered a massive arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapons, and had led to the existence of military blocs, the end of the confrontation demanded an end to this arms race and a possible new peace.

The collapse of communism was followed in most of these countries by a painful process of transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. 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’. Shock therapy varied in intensity and speed amongst the former second world countries, but its direction and features were quite similar. 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. Above all, it meant that 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. Collective farms were to be replaced by private farming and capitalism in agriculture. This transition ruled out any alternate or ‘third way’, other than state-controlled socialism or capitalism.