Now we have the next stage of the collapse of the empire, hopefully, the last one
The empire seemed strong, had a powerful nuclear arsenal and half the world’s countries as satellites. Five months before that, a referendum was held in which most citizens voted for preserving the USSR. In their reports, the CIA stated that the Soviet Union was unbreakable and that its leadership had the will and ability to overcome all the current troubles.
Five days later, Ukraine declared independence.
Four months later, the Soviet Union ceased to exist as a political entity and geopolitical reality. Its flag over the Kremlin was lowered, and its president resigned.
Analysing the causes of the collapse of the USSR, someone points to subjective factors such as Gorbachev, Kravchuk or Yeltsin. But one man or even three cannot bring down a mighty empire if it is truly mighty. There are objective reasons: economic troubles, management problems, military failures, ecological disasters, the fall of ideology, the growth of identities, etc.
Then the empire survived, primarily due to the reluctance of the West to allow its complete disintegration. The West saved the Russian Empire three times in the 20th century, claims Slovak researcher Juraj Mesik. The national (then autonomous) republics declared sovereignty, two of them declared independence, but the Russian Federation started the Chechen war, and the West sided with the empire, and all attempts at independence were suppressed by force, threats, and bribery of the elites.
Now we have the next stage of the collapse of the empire, hopefully the last one. Add to the factors of disintegration what was not present in 1991: a gruelling war, sanctions, conflict with the West, demographic problems, the presence of the Internet, the positions of strong players like China and Turkey, the presence of success stories of the nations that broke free in 1991.
The process of the collapse of the empire is slow but inevitable.
Valeriy Pekar
New Voice
