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China learnt not just from the Soviets but more importantly from Singapore. Deng Xiaoping adopted Singapore’s “Authoritarian Capitalism” to make China richer from 1978.

Most of the Republics (all of central asia) wanted to preserve the unified state, while doing away with Communism. Yet, the union was shattered, all to quench Yeltsin's hunger for power as soon as possible.

thank you so much for this episode SG and Print. Extremely informative!

Finally a good topic- refreshing! Good to revisit history through your lens Shekhar! Much Better then the nonsense around domestic politics! It's gonna be a multi-polar world going ahead Shekhar!

If you have selfish leaders like Yelstin, then you dont need enemies. SG hasnt touched one aspect. Which is that if Yelstins greed hadn't overtaken him and Gorbachev got a few more months, Soviet Union would have survived in some form...even US wanted that...Bush Sr.tried his best to keep Soviet Union alive as US was worried about the nuckes as also a Yugoslavia type messy balkanisation...Yelstin was not just greedy he was incompetent as well..today he is remembered as a traitor...Gorbachev while incompetent wanted Soviet Union to survive...he was clueless all along...

With all due respect, the end of British empire and decolonization was the most important geopolitical event of the 20th century.

Imagine discussing geopolitics with SG sir, Prashant Dhawan sir and Mikhail Gorbachev side by side 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Thanks @SG for this wonderful video. Waiting for your next.

As I speak, the healthcare system of our country is reeling under a massive shortage of resident doctors- the backbone of every government hospital, due to sheer mismanagement of Modi Government of the NEETPG counseling. More than 60% of the workforce is vacant, awaiting counseling, as the country braces for the 3rd wave, and disaster waiting to happen and as usual,like the 2nd wave, no one will take the responsibility for it

Yetsin was a known drunkard. It's brilliant that Gupta indirectly brought that up several times

I was just reading a chapter about this today. Great video.👍👍

SG sir and PD sir the jewels us young Indians need who are interested in politics (domestics and international)

Brilliant podcast As someone who was born after the Cold War era yet is always fascinated into finding whatever information he could about it , I enjoyed this session of CTC

Very well put together

Thank you, Sir, precious information, crystal clear exposition!

We don't have an example of a perfect CAPITALIST UTOPIA. However, all we have are numerous examples of FAILED SOCIALIST STATES. Hence, we should be careful what we wish for.

one more observation, despite having largest agricultural landmass in the world, Soviet union was never self sufficient in food production. It always had shortages and most of the time had to barter food grain in exchange of oil. It spent massive resources to prop up the state controlled agro-collectives. Thats what state controlled agriculture does to you. May be those who oppose farm laws need to learn from soviet history. Through Glasnost such shortages came to light among general public, and state had no capacity either to deliver or to prevent the wave of protest and social unrest that came with it.

Excellent analysis

Hello Shekhar sir and team. Please ask The Print team to visit Uttar Pradesh Villages which are Poverty of 77% (Shrawasti ,Bahraich,Balrampur villages which are 70% poverty) based on Niti Aayog and make a video on those villages. Also on those villages is there any progess done by Yogi CM or not.. please make a video on that. Iam from Tamilnadu, My Tax money go to poor state and High population state. We need those states to develop so our money stay with us. So please make a video on those villages by Print Team.

Very interesting!

Everyone want some kind of 'Akhand' . Akhand Russia ,Akhand China ..

Very nice and helpful recapitulation of a great event of 20th century. I am reminded of a cryptic statement by Mao Zedong, when someone asked him about his opinion on the French Revolution which occurred in 1789. He said "It is too early to say". Disintegration of USSR is a far bigger event, with far wider ramification. Many events would not have occurred but for this disintegration such as break up Czecoslovakia, China filling the space left by the USSR, growth Baltic countries, to name some. USSR was a huge tightly run machinery. A loose screw here, a loosened nut there, brought about its collapse, not just economic stagnation. People of erstwhile USSR willingly supported the disintegration. They were frustrated with the highly autocratic rule of the Geriatrics of Kremlin.

History is worth discovering and revisiting, especially eps like this that provide a convergence of multiple facts and observations. Thank you for sharing.

Our modern world history lessons are back! Thank you SG!

You are very exhaustive and detailed. Congratulations.

Shekhar Guptaji I am greatly impressed by your professional career. Where ever there is big news in last many decades, you are there covering it.

Brilliant, the 3 points.

I really love your episodes that discuss history 😅

Massive respect Sirji for giving credit to ABC article. Yesterday read that article in ABC and today your narration of events including leaders drinks were similar to article. But like a true gentleman you have acknowledged sources and credited author.

Great lecture India and Russian Federation are friends they can support each other in trade help each other

nice

Wow!

(1). A crisp, nuanced, and informative episode SG, thanks. (2). The three lessons China learned are visible in the way it conducts itself. (3). "Reformers in a hurry, be carefully." Fits well to the PM's rushed through, well-intentioned farm laws. I wonder if the PM has learned his lesson?

Loved the Jab you took at Communist's Thinking 😄👏🏻 The Dissolution of USSR is indeed one of the Most Defining moment in the History of Geopolitics.

Brilliant Narration and Excellent but true Facts!

>> what China learnt from it In 1991, China/Russia/India GDP ratio 1.4/1.9/1.0 In 2021 , China/Russia/India GDP ratio 5.6/0.6/1.0 What India/Russia can learn from it ? What China has done in the past 30 years, and what China is doing now, is exactly what India media is criticizing now.

Hope u are safe. Wish u a happy new year. Prosperous and decluttered 12 months ahead.

I would also like to add the idea of republics. China rejected this idea and went for so called autonomous regions for ethnic minorities. Each autonomous regions differs from each other. Even autonomous regions also have autonomous regions/cities/municipalities within it.

Oh - those momentous days - I recall so well. In an India starved of world news, the World This Week brought in the pictures from Timisoara, Romania ( I was studying in NIT/REC Jaipur in those days, and there was one 19" Color TV in the common room - not a big deal back then, there was only one channel - DoorDarshan -so nobody fought over the preferred channel to watch). And those images of Trabants streaming from Poland into West Germany - the Ceausescu's being executed - the fall of the wall, Yeltsin on tanks and just like that, the world changed in a matter of weeks or months. All these, probably catalyzed by a man who has been forgotten - the architect of perestroika and glasnost - Gorbachev. As somebody who loves books, and history (Gibbon, Toynbee and the like), it was so hard to comprehend that this could happen so fast. With the benefit of hindsight, one realizes that things move slow, but when some fundamental shift is afoot, it changes in the proverbial blink of an eye. Was it not yesterday when Advani took out his Rath yatra, soon after, the Babri masjid fell - and now we have emboldened Dharam Sabhas brazenly calling for genocide. Little did we know that the butterfly effect of the Shah Bano case would lead India to where we have reached now. This is happening in an India, which has all the trappings of a highly advanced and developed state, juxtaposed with the reality of extreme poverty and hopelessness. What, where, when and how will this experiment conclude ? .... Will the "immense economic potential" which has been touted as "imminent" for the last 80 years, prove to be a forever illusory mirage ? I left India in 1996 - and sitting out on the inside, it has been exhilarating at times, and gut wrenching at other times, to follow the developments back home. Of late, just waiting with bated breath trying to make sense of what tomorrow will bring.

What an interesting century this is turning out to be. Putin wants to revive the Soviet + Russian Empire. The CCP wants back territory held by some old Chinese dynasty at some point in time, however briefly. Erdogan wants to recreate Ottoman Empire. RSS and its affiliates want an Akhand Bharat. Iran seems to be missing out on this chest thumping party.

correction at @6:22 . Shushkevich was the leader of Belarus . Secondly, Gorbachev was no longer a communist leader in December 1991. The communist party was banned in soviet union by that time.

The irony is that 1. Soviet Union acted guide,friends and Philosopher and mid-wife of Red China.2. The U.S administration under Nixon-Kissinger aided the Red China in launching itself to capitalistic economy unthinkably under a Communist regime in 1971. 3. After 21 years, the Soviet Union became a sort of pigmy and the baby dragon grew to become a giant. 4. A recent article informs that China has come very closer to US in tech innovation and may even outpace US in not so distant future in almost all parameters like R & D Spend,Patents, new tech infra development etc. 5. Clearly, China is turning the tables on US unlike Soviet Union. The Chinese state under Xi is having monetary, new-age Sci-Tech resources in addition to old economy resources , which when compared to what Soviet had ,would look primitive and these new age technogical capabilities is strengthening the muscles of Xi's CCP and would have deeper far-reaching consequences for man-kind, though US is not exactly holy state. But when compared to democratic regimes, the history shows that the authoritarian states are un-mistakably the arch-enemy of man-kind. The Chinese character has all the ingredients- its inherent Mongol ruthlessness ,it's pen-chant Andover for bloody sports, the way of life accustomed to live under monothic oppressive monarchy. So the transition from monarchy to megalithic Communist Party of China (CCP) is smooth for Chinese people. They can hardly distinguish between Tang Emperor and Emperor Xi Jin-Ping. Who ever though even in 1987 that Soviet Union would collapse. But then Who knows the Chinese state would also not collapse , though the underlying causes may be different?. Long before the Soviet collapse, Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet physicist, who wrote a pamphlet and circulated secret to underground intellectuals. He would also have faced the fate of Alexander Solzenitsyn and many other unsung heroes played their part risking their lives had Sakharov not been a Nobel Laureate. Who knows right now similar thing is not happening in China or would not happen in near future.

Imperial Russia, at its peak, was larger than the Soviet Union in terms of area.

Idea of Soviet socialism failed miserably. Socialist countries like Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Cuba and North korea have suffered economically. India is also on the same way with policies like endless subsidies, freebies, guaranteed prices, frequent loan waivers, free electricity, water. Inflation Rates Venezuela : 9,980% Cuba : 70% Zimbabwe : 670% North Korea : 66%

Shekhar Saheb that discussion of 20th century prime event of World War 2 Vs USSR collapse did not happen in CTV today.

Stanislav Shushkevich was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus - not Latvia as stated at 6:23 . However, you subsequently mentioned "Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic", which clarifies the matter.

Sir, Could you make a video highlighting GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council)

Russia & China are very huge even now, why do they want to expand more? There is no limit to greed & lust for power.

Yes at 21 , I passed through Moscow on an overnight stay in Moscow in 1979 and it was minus 35 degrees on Aeroflot the cheapest flight to Nairobi. Allan.

I’m american and very curious as to how most Indians viewed the dissolution of USSR. Was the collapse seen as damaging or positive for you guys? Or neither?

The western empire exploited the cracks between the Soviet Union and China. Whenever there is a crack one can find the west residing there. The Shias and Sunnis were living peacefully in many countries over centuries, but since there is a slight difference in interpretation of their philosophy, it was made as a major issue by western intelligence with Saudi's help as the custodian.The West needs turmoil in other parts of the world to maintain their currency printing machines. All will collapse suddenly with disastrous impact as this is artificial and the present generation will not be able to stomach this.

Most Indians when learning from China and any other country like Taiwan which developed in the latter half of the 20th Century , they simply don't learn anything useful . They only learn "China developed because it's authoritarian". What these developed ones have done that India hasn't : 1. They've been developing administrative capacities (currently almost absent in States and Local Govts , therefore earning the name "flailing state"), 2. Development of financial and Human Resources and Management , 3. Improving productivity with importing/licensing technology (even starting with obsolete tech eg. Just as Taiwan did on Semiconductor technology when RCA licensed the tech and later Philips allowed Transfer of Tech of advanced technology under a Joint Venture with Taiwanese Public Sector Companies) and diffusing in economy that tech know how with the help of educational institutes , production units and laboratories which produced entrepreneurs(many also trained/educated abroad). 4. Science Parks , Universities to improve on the existing technology and mass education PEOPLE DON'T REALISE THAT A POSSIBLE AUTHORITARIAN INDIAN GOVT WILL BE WORSE THAN THE CURRENT DEMOCRACY

Did India start to liberalize after the fall of the Soviet Union or did its collapse give us the momentum to liberalize?

Wanted to hear SG sir lecture on Yugoslavia hope it will come soon

Shekhar I request you to cover the ongoing resident doctors protests for delayed NEET PG2021 counselling .No national media is covering such an important topic.

Putin is more autocratic in history of russia.but he has improved a russia lot after soviet collapse because of weak leader gorbachev and corrupt leader yeltsin.putin has surpassed 2nd longest leader of ussr leonid ilyich brezhnev.

Being a supreme leader of One party state or being leader of an electroral autocracy, which is easier for a ruler to rule with an Iron fist?

Please do next cut the clutter on judicial appointments. Recently we have seen the ferocious speech of John brittas in RS on the other hand CJI Ramana, has said at a law college event in vijayawada that Judges appointing judges is a myth. Can you clarify the thing properly and declutter all the apprehensions regarding judicial appointments.

Interesting recap.. analysis of the Chinese way is an added bonus

I love CTC on China.

Our qaumrades were orphaned for abt 25-30 years,thankfully they hv new parents in Chinese communist party

Thank you. Insightful but it is missing a few important nuances :-). It would have helped if you’d have read Francoise Thom, "Les fins du communisme”, published around 1994, and Terry Martin, “The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939”, published in 2001. The first one gives a “minority report” view on why and how exactly did the Warsaw pact disband, and how the Soviet Union was broken into pieces. The second explains why the Soviet Union was organized as it was in republics and autonomous republics built on ethno-national criteria, and it helps understand why 1991 happened and why ethnic conflicts don’t seem to end in the successor countries of the former Soviet Union, including what goes on right now in Ukraine. An older book by Francoise Thom was very popular “La Langue de bois” (1986) was very popular after publication and was translated all over the world, her later book contradicting the Western triumphalism did not get an eager market.

My father who visited USSR, once told me that the things were so bad in USSR that women were willing to sleep with men for a bottle of vodka. According to him those were the signs of decay in USSR system

SG must have cried a lot that day

Suszkiewicz was a leader of Belarus, not Latvia.

The outlook for China is not so rosy. Their mishandling of the economy in the last few years is starting to bite. For a country with a centrally planned and controlled economy, they have made massive mistakes. First, they relied too much on construction. It became much too large. Second, they messed with the economies that they trade with. This is leading to a move away from China for production and towards countries like India. Third, they flout the international rules-based system, and that has led to tensions that are unnecessary. I view lots of news sources from the Asia Pacific region, and they don't paint quite the same picture.

👍👍 #ThePrint #Politicker #PureScience #CutTheClutter #GlobalPrint #ThePrintOTC #World360 #ScientiFix #CourtUncourt #NationalInterest #MindOverMatter #Ilanomics #PurePolitics #TILWithThePrint #ThePrintKYC #HeadlinesKePeechayShekharKeSath #Journalism #India #VandeMatarm 🇮🇳 👍👍

@8:42- Only if USSR had a Ravi Shastri and a Dharmendra, the breakup would have never happened 😂😂..

A theory of Mad economist ( karl marx) was tested in russia.

Was it Lithuania or Latvia was the first to declare independence ??

"Communist old thinking" - you nailed it SG. :-)

1:50 although the soviet had a smaller economy w.r.t to the USA, they were a lot less dependent on the US/the west, which made them a much stronger potential adversary to the US. on the other hand, china is far too dependent on the west, especially on the US. probably a lot easier to keep a mostly homogenous population (chinese) in line than it would have been for the much diverse countries, ethnicities, religions, ... that was the soviet union. china's inspiration to accept western help in building it's economy (opening up) probably came from seeing how it had worked for its immediate neighbors, not much to do with the soviet union there. wish people would stop pushing this "capitalist democracy vs. communist" narrative. almost all of the systems, ideas, technology, know-how, ... that the every country (including communist countries) use and depend on today comes from capitalist democracies. a good test of the stability, power, credibility, .... of the chinese system right now, would be using force on taiwan.

As someone said earlier SG is Forest Gump of India. He can be seen anywhere when anything happens. 🙄🙄😂

That would be capitalism with communist - not Chinese - characteristics but I see your point

Wow! Absolutely informative and awakening! Hinting at the direction India should consider exploring carefully. Sort of a controlled capitalism.

Sputnik comment!!

Sir please comment on this What is your view on India re-enter Chinese bay???

Mr Gupta - Request CTC on the latest crisis in Somalia

I am not surprised that CIA and Soviet union economic growth rates differ. An important reason could be the way GDP defined in the captatist world and the communist would. Communists use material product approach as against value added approach of UN national accounts methodology which is widely followed now. Material balance approach is narrow in its focus. As usual an informative story.

Crimea was gifted to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev's regiment 1954. Lenin died long before in 1924.

By late 1980s the massive decline in oil prices meant that Soviet Union had no money to buy either food grain or consumer goods from international market in exchange of oil. This decimated the soviet economy and fueled unrest. Gorbachev's reform failed to address this structural weakness of Soviet state controlled economy.

Shushkevitch was the leader of Soviet Belarus not Latvia!

Lesson for India: "Authoritarianism and Power Centralization will never work at all!!"

Lessons to be learnt from USSR 1) highly centralised leadership leads to failure 2) in a large multicultural country enforcing one single culture language never works 3) closed economy leads to economic stagnation 4) political interference in every aspect of peoples live will be disastrous for the country

USSR was a forced union of very different people while China is ONE IDENTITY. China won't break.

A great anyalist of India🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

The 4th greatest - and the most important thing is how you transfer power from one ruler to the next in a consistent manner years after year without shaking the system. The British parliament is in existence for almost 1000 years. This weakness stays with communist dictatorship or any other authoritarian systems, caliphate, empires or any such dynasties. Take the case of Caliphate ... Ummayads, Abbasids even...more murders and conspiracies than then all horror moves put together. Doesn't matter how strong CCP is now... communist China will be history pretty soon, definitely before the end of this century.

Thanks to this event and LTTE ! Otherwise we will be still driving ambassador car on pot holes, waiting for BSNL connection and standing in line for kerosene and blaming evil corporates

Its getting towards multipolar and not really bipolar

China learnt well fro the fall of USSR and the three learning’s are well captured by SG

India.waiting to have same fate as USSR. we are fighting among each other. State vs state, language vs language, south vs north , cast vs cast. Our ultraliberal ideology is making the country fall into pieces. Our enemies won't need to fire any bullet. The way India has become decentralized, fragile , divided we will fall apart within next some decade.

Something always seems to work out for China...what goes wrong for the world goes right for them...as they attribute their own characteristics to it ....lucky folks

This could have been an interesting history class but SG missed the ball this time.

China also had the privilege to learn from the stories of Japan, Germany, and Singapore with spearheads of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Chinese businessmen worldwide.

👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

Dear Editor Keeping silence on activities of Dharma sansad is matter of your reputation. This Dharma sansad is causing harm to our great country , almost leading us to USSR way

I have following queries. Even India had a growth rate of less than 4% during 70s upto 90. Still INDIA did not pass thru such catastrophe. Why? Chinese are ready use gun whenever required. Same with Myanmar. Even in INDIA after emergency Indira Congress had 5 full terms & 4 in direct terms at the center. That's 30 years out of 46 years. They have been main ruling party in many states like MAHARASHTRA, Andhra etc. What explains that? I think if the party at the helm is ready to use boots & guns people do get repressed & accept it. Economic collapse or not. More or less highlighted by the success of China , regret of Putin & Success of INC. This deserves CTC.

An Era of Indo-Soviet Friendship and Achievements came to an end with the fall of USSR. 🇷🇺 🇮🇳

US intelligence says it does not need humans to fight wars and has perfected Robots. Allan.