ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the essentialist-totalitarian, revisionist and Marxist analyses of the USSR. It examines the impact of President Ronald Reagan and the USA policy on perestroika and the end of the Cold War. The chapter focuses on neo-conservatism, neo-realism and constructivism, and discusses the impact of the world economy and globalisation on the USSR. In order to explain the demise of Soviet socialism, the collapse of the USSR and the accompanying end of the Cold War, it is vital to understand the nature of the USSR. For American Republicans, the Reagan factor explains Mikhail Gorbachev's decision to reform, and ultimately the end of the Cold War and the demise of Soviet socialism. The USSR inhabited a world that was dominated by international capitalism, which since World War II had been increasingly affected by globalisation. The USSR could not resist the impact of globalisation, which also contributed to its demise.
