International aspects of the European socialist commonwealth’s collapse in the 1980s and 1990s

  • Mechyslau E. Chasnouski Belarusian State University, Niezaliežnasci Avenue, 4, 220030, Minsk, Belarus

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of decrease in bloc confrontation between the two social systems in the second half of the 1980s. This process brought “cold war” to the end. The circumstances surrounding the process inspired hopes and desires to enhance global cooperation and strengthen common security. The European region played a key role in this process. The development of international relations in the European context contributed to devaluation of classical examples of threats to Europe’s security and weakened socialist countries dependence from the Soviet Union. These changes were also stipulated by the Soviet leadership’s refusal to adhere to the Brezhnev Doctrine. The countries of the socialist commonwealth needed to embrace radical reforms, while conservative Eastern European leaders were rejecting any attempts to introduce changes. As a result of series of velvet revolutions those leaders were deposed. That led to collapse of the real socialism. The Soviet leaders and next Russian authorities didn’t manage to preserve allied relations with post-socialist countries guided by pro-Western values. At the same time, the stability in Europe was under threat. Internal political imbalances in the new democracies were creating impediments to security in Europe.

Author Biography

Mechyslau E. Chasnouski, Belarusian State University, Niezaliežnasci Avenue, 4, 220030, Minsk, Belarus

doctor of science (history), full professor; head of the department of international relations, faculty of international relations

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Published
2018-10-14
Keywords: “cold war”, Brezhnev Doctrine, velvet revolutions, European socialist commonwealth’s collapse, dissolution of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the Warsaw Pact military alliance (WAPA), post-socialist countries, Newly Independent States, Central Europe, post-socialist transformation, post-cold war Europe
How to Cite
Chasnouski, M. E. (2018). International aspects of the European socialist commonwealth’s collapse in the 1980s and 1990s. Journal of the Belarusian State University. International Relations, 1, 3-14. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/internationalRelations/article/view/1298
Issue
No 1 (2017): Journal of the Belarusian State University. International Relations
Section
History of International Relations and Foreign Policy

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