The end of Cold War

What are the factors that lead to the end of Cold War?

The Cold War came to an end in the 1991 with the USSR being dissolved into its component republics and the iron curtain being lifted. The period that lasts 45 years in which the World has been in great tension and being polarized by the rivalry of the two great super powers, the USA and the USSR, finally came to an end. This marks a new point in the development of the World’s history. There are three main underlying reasons for the end of Cold War.
The first reason was the deterioration of the Communist system in the USSR. In the late 1980s, the USSR’s economy faces great problems. With the great drop in oil price, which was the USSR’s main export revenues, and the collectivized agriculture, which gave poor results, and the inefficient Planed economy system that did not satisfy the needs of the Market, altogether rendered the USSR economy stagnant and weakened. The people were already suffering with the shortage of food and inflations, yet they were still forced to work harder to catch up with unrealistic goals set by the government. Also, the USSR’s participation in the Afghanistan war was frustrating and facing growing disapproval from the public. This has put more strain on the USSR’s economy as the arm race’s costs were escalating. Thus the people were greatly unhappy with the USSR’s government and they wanted to have changes. This is one of the main reason for the collapse of the Communist system and the dissolution of the USSR which eventually led to the end of Cold War
The second reason was the rise of the new political leader in the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. He was very much different from all the other previous leaders of the USSR. Once step up to power, he immediately aimed to bring about the great changes to the USSR to improve its aggravating economy and its relations with the West. He starts the reforms with two new policies: glastnost and perestroika. These two policies practiced openness and restructuring of the USSR’s systems. They have immediately changed the way the USA viewed the USSR. The USA’s president promised to help the USSR in liberalizing and improving its trades. He proposed to “tear down” the Berlin Wall dividing the East and West Germany. While the people in Western Germany were enjoying prosperity, the people in Eastern Germany were suffering. In 1989, the Berlin Wall, the physical symbol of the Cold War, was open, and thousands of people from East Berlin poured in. Another impacts of the policies were that they have created more open oppositions in the Eastern European countries, hence challenged the controls of the Warsaw Pact countries. In late 1898 Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romanian was liberalized. The effects continued as more countries were becoming liberalized. Eventually in 1991, the USSR dissolved into 17 components countries. With this the Cold War came to an end, with the leading of Mikhail Gorbachev of USSR.
The third reason was the effects of globalization. It has been said that the World has started to become globalized and its effects has led to the end of Cold War. The new economic order were set and aimed towards the Western economy, especially the USA. Also, the thaw in relations and desires to end the tensions expressed as the negotiations to stop producing nuclear weapons. Domestic reforms aiming to liberalize the country by Gorbachev and the disintegration of the USSR, breaking down of the previous old order and rendered a more opening New World. Thus Globalization has affected the Cold War to end.
In conclusion, the Cold War has come to an end because of the three main above reasons. All of these factors revolve around the USSR, its reforms and change which has affected the Cold War. Hence it can be concluded that the USSR were the main reason for the Cold War.
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