What did the disintegration of the USSR mean for the international system?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The ideological dispute over whether the socialist system would beat the capitalist system was not any issue any more.
Option (1) The ideological dispute ... was not any issue any more. — Correct. The disintegration meant the end of Cold War confrontations: the dispute between the socialist and the capitalist systems, which had driven the arms race, was over.
Option (2) Non-aligned countries became more powerful. — Incorrect. When the Cold War ended, either one superpower would dominate or several countries would become important players. As it turned out, the US became the sole superpower; power moved to the US, not to the non-aligned countries.
Option (3) The world remained bipolar with the rise of Association of South East Asian Countries. — Incorrect. A bipolar world needs two superpowers. With the Soviet Union gone, the bipolar world ended and the US was left as the sole superpower, whatever the rise of ASEAN.
Option (4) Liberal democracy weakened gradually after the fall of the Soviet Union. — Incorrect. The reverse happened: politically, the notion of liberal democracy emerged as the best way to organise political life, and capitalism became the dominant economic system.
NCERT (2025-26): “Consequences of Disintegration … First of all, 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.… Consequences of Disintegration … As it turned out, the US became the sole superpower. Backed by the power and prestige of the US, 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. Politically, the notion of liberal democracy emerged as the best way to organise political life.…” |