History

1. Politics is linked to many different fields since it involves all social aspects which interest people. Religion as a part of society is extremely important for politics, because it influences many political decisions as well as makes people agree or disagree with certain changes. The religion was a major force in the past impacting the politicians of the country as well as being the main determinant of people’s attitudes toward transformations. Nevertheless, religion has been losing its power for many years since politicians were trying to separate it from political sphere; as a result, till the nineteenth century, religion did not play a major role in the world politics. It became important by the end of the twentieth century again, because politicians started using it as a dividing or uniting factor for popularization of their political decisions. Religion emerged as an important factor because of various reasons. Firstly, it served as a tool to connect people using certain religious ideas. For instance, in the globalized world, which started changing rapidly by the end of the twentieth century, it was needed to connect people using certain ideas. It was necessary to distinguish one nation or a culture from another, and religion often served as an only tool for that. It also emerged as a way to excuse certain political decisions, because many politicians used fundamentalism principles of various religions in order to justify their actions. Religion became so important thanks to its ability to divide rather than connect; therefore, many politicians manipulated it. There is another reason for religion becoming so significant. In fact, many people became more interested in it and started practicing it more, which attracted new believers. As a result, religion became more influential, so politicians had to accept the new reality with religion in it as a fact and consider it while making their decisions.

2. It is obvious that the fall of the USSR could not be avoided since every empire has to fall; however, it could be postponed if it was not for Gorbachev and his political decisions. Firstly, one could say that economic development could have averted the fall of the USSR. The Soviet Union was centralized, so separate states were dependent on the decisions of the center. These decisions did not take local characteristics into consideration; that is why different parts of the USSR were suffering from poverty and absence of resources although there were no actual reasons for it. Another problem was the huge amount of money USSR was sending abroad as an “revolution on export” meaning the financial support the Soviet Union provided to other communist countries. Thus, the money of the soviet people was given to people outside the country which affected the USSR in a negative way. These decisions contributed towards the collapse of the Soviet Union; therefore, if they were avoided, it would be possible to save this empire of communism from falling. If communists actually cared about their economy and used some rational transformations to keep it running successfully, it would be possible to improve living conditions and financial state of the country. The irrational approach toward economy, which was based on unrealistic communism doctrines, led to poverty, which people had to struggle with. As a result, people wanted a change and saw the collapse of the USSR as a way for opportunities. Also, political reasons played an important role in the collapse. If Gorbachev did not start his reformations giving some freedoms to different states and loosening the grips, the country would not be as unstable as it was. The USSR politicians were not used to tolerance and liberalization, and they took it as a sign of weakness, which made the whole country act in a different way. Basically, Gorbachev’s desire to change the empire from within made people want to build brand new and democratic countries. If he continued his politics in the direction of his predecessor, he would be able to save the empire for some years, but liberalization aggravated the problems the country was facing. Hence, if Gorbachev acted differently, it would be possible to save the USSR for some time, but it would still collapse as an unsustainable and antihuman empire.

3. If I were to be the leader of China, I would have many concerns about the future of the country. Firstly, I would be concerned about the population issue, which is extremely important for this nation. China is developing very quickly, and as one-child policy is not working, more and more people are born in China every day. As a result, there is a shortage of resources for everyone; it is also important to think about places for everyone to live in. Basically, the overpopulation of the country would be my great concern, because it is something that affects every Chinese citizen. The shortage of resources as a result of overpopulation would be another my concern. I would also be worried about living conditions. China is a very complicated country, because it is not easy to improve living conditions there. The government has to consider consequences of every improvement; for example, in case Chinese people will get more money, they are likely to buy more cars. Therefore, it is important to calculate steel and iron resources in order to see whether they will be enough to satisfy the needs of Chinese citizens. Hence, I would be very concerned with the effective usage of resources. I would also pay a lot of attention to ecological issues and sustainability since now China’s economy does not consider ecological factor. Liberalization of regime within the country would also be an issue of great concern for people, because communism is not the political doctrine that can last for long since it is inefficient.