Political, Social, and Economic Impact of the Cold War on the Soviet Union (Essay Sample)

For almost half a century, the Cold War had far-reaching consequences in virtually the whole world, with some areas experiencing overarching effects. For example, in countries like Vietnam, Korea, Angola, and Abyssinia, to name a few, the war would witness full-scale military combat as communists and capitalists competed for supremacy. The antagonist nations, i.e., the US and Soviet Union, were affected by this war. This article explains how this ideological war affected the Soviet Union politically, socially, and economically. 
First, the cold war boosted the Soviet Union’s participation in global politics for over half a century proceeding World War Two. Before the cold war, the Soviet Union was a minutiae actor in European affairs commonly disregarded by the European powerhouses (Roberts, 1998). He informs that Russia occupied a dominant position after 1945: leader of a mighty military-political bloc comprising nations from Eastern Europe. Her power further immensely increased in the 1960s and 1970s. The author examines that the Soviet Union became an international nuclear superpower influential in crises, issues, and critical developments in global politics. The writer continues to argue that as a communist state, the Soviet Union formally committed to creating an international communist system. He adds that as communism and socialism proliferated in the post-cold war era, it became apparent that Moscow’s belief in the triumph of this ideology would eventually yield fruits. Communism would collapse in the Soviet Union itself in the 1980s at the expense of capitalism. The emergence of the Soviet Union as a nuclear superpower and an architect of communist ideology after the Second World War strengthened her position in the global political spectrum.
Second, the Cold War accelerated criminal activities and corruption in the Soviet Union. An online published by Norwich University (2017) postulates that the Russian mafia, hitherto suppressed during communism, gained roots after the collapse of the USSR to occupy the power vacuum. Desperation increased the mafia’s membership. The publication asserts that payroll services virtually vanished in the Soviet Union: prompting police, military, and ex-KGB officers to enlist with the mafia for a steady source of income. Mafia oligarchs pounced on state assets and enterprises like telecommunications, industries, and energy networks. The mafia’s influence grew significantly, with evidence suggesting that they extorted the citizens in return for security and law enforcement whenever the government failed. The article asserts that though the current regime has considerably gained success against the mafia, it still wields substantial power and influence in Russia. The evidence warns that the autocracy in Russia is bound to breed further corruption because it represses the opposition. Insecurity and corruption resulted from the collapse of the communist USSR due to high desperation and state authoritarianism.