Şocul geopolitic: Relaţiile dintre U.R.S.S. şi S.U.A. şi prăbuşirea comunismului
The Geopolitical Shock: the Soviet-American Relations and the Fall of Communism

Summary/Abstract: The unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, was such that many scholars cast their gazes backwards in an attempt to understand the roots of the collapse. Interpretations of how it ended thus remain crucial to an accurate understanding of global events and foreign policy. The reasons for the Cold War’s conclusion, and the timing of its ending, are disputed to this day. In this paper we suggest as tool for Soviet-American relations assessment during the Cold War the geopolitical shocks theory to illuminate the key cataclysmic events of the 1980s and early 1990s from a range of perspectives. The effects of this shock are still being felt today. Indeed, given its unprecedented scope, speed and far reaching consequences, the impact of the collapse of the Soviet state system must be included in any discussion of shocks that have reshaped the international system. Accordingly, this study explores the trends that marked the Cold War period, the events that characterized the shock itself, and finally the social, economic, and military impact on Soviet empire. Through this process of examination, it will be evident that the collapse of Soviet Communism marked nothing less than the complete transformation of the geopolitical system.

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