Maharashtra Board Class 12 Political Science Chapter 1 The world since 1991 PDF Download

The World Since 1991

In the XIth standard we studied international developments from 1945 to 1991. In this chapter we will look at the changes that have taken place in the post 1991 era.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union ended the cold war era. It also ended the East-West division of the world that was based on the rivalry of the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies.

The developments in the post-cold war period can be analyzed through five major dimensions:

(i) End Of Cold War And Rise Of New States: The end of Cold War led to the end of an international order dominated by the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. It also saw the emergence of new states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

(ii) Emergence Of Unipolarity: The Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union came to end signaling the end of bipolarity. This led to the emergence of a unipolar world order dominated by the United States.

(iii) Human Rights And Humanitarian Intervention: There was an increasing awareness about human rights and also a rise in intervention for humanitarian purposes.

(iv) Terrorism: The nature of terrorism changed after the 11 September 2001 attacks (also known as 9/11 attacks) against the United States.

(v) Multipolarity And Regionalism: This phase primarily saw the rise of China and India, the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific region and also the rise of Russia under Vladimir Putin. These developments and the growth of regionalism brought in multipolarity in the world order. Regions and regional organisations started to become more important.

End Of Cold War And Rise Of New States

We can see two important trends in international relations since the East European revolution of 1989. The first is the assertion of the concept of ethnic nationalism based on right to self-determination and the second is the end of bipolarity. Bipolarity existed because of the existence of the two superpowers, United States and the Soviet Union. The world was divided into two centers of power. The disintegration of the Soviet Union ended one of the centers of power. Therefore, the disintegration of the Soviet Union meant the end of bipolarity in the world.

The revolution of the East European states was a revolution of growing aspirations of the middle class. They desired more freedom and economic well-being. They rose against the communist governments that were controlled by the Soviet Union and emerged as free democratic states. Even within the Soviet Union the movement for more political and economic freedom led to the various states demanding more autonomy and eventually independence. Meanwhile, the ethnic identity of the various people of the region became stronger. This led to the demand for the creation of independent states based on ethnic identity.

A superpower is a state with a leading position in international politics. It has the ability to influence global events and fulfill its own interests. After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union were the two superpowers who confronted each other during the Cold War.

Teacher's Note

Just like India became free in 1947, many countries became free after the Soviet Union broke apart. For example, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union but became independent after 1991.

Exam Trick

Remember: Bipolarity = two powers. Unipolarity = one power (USA). Multipolarity = many powers (China, Russia, India rising).

Points to Remember

The Soviet Union broke apart in 1991 and many new countries were formed.
Ethnic nationalism means people of the same culture want their own country.
The Cold War was between USA and Soviet Union after World War 2.
After Soviet Union fell, USA became the only superpower in the world.
New countries like Czech Republic, Croatia, and Estonia became independent.

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