During the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union was recognized around the world as a strong political power, even though the Soviet Union was not what it was. 'she seemed to be. When Mikhail Gorbachev (see Figure 1) was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on March 11, 1985, no one could have predicted that in six years the Soviet Union would collapse into fifteen separate states. He attempted to turn the Soviet system into a democracy, which quickly backfired (Grachev, 1995). The main reasons for the fall of the USSR are economic problems, political problems, psychological factors and competition with the West, the main problem being economic factors. The USSR's economy eventually stalled, with no improvement, and the nation became desperate. Economic factors are linked to political factors. Elements such as dishonesty, propaganda and secrecy also played a significant role in the collapse of the USSR. Mikhail Gorbachev had a vision for the USSR. He often referred to two words: opening and restructuring (Gill, 1994). Gorbachev fought long and hard to maintain some form of union. He preferred a federation, but was flexible enough to be prepared, if necessary, to settle for a Confederate Union of Independent States (Grachev, 1995). The new emergence of strong local governments posed a threat to the country's unity, although Gorbachev still fought hard to maintain a union. In 1991, Gorbachev (after much persuasion) formed an alliance with conservatives who wanted to maintain the country as a whole (Grachev, 1995). Shortly after its formation, it became apparent that the price of the alliance would be the giving up of an improvement for the Soviet Union. The reform was... middle of paper... seemed reasonable and solid” (Grachev, 1995, 33). The second reason was more unconscious, reflecting his confusion, uncertainty, and anxiety about what was happening to his nation. Politically, the USSR had many problems. Starting with the fact that none of the people in power seemed to agree on anything. Works Cited Gill, G., 1994. The collapse of a one-party system: the disintegration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Cambridge, New York: Press Syndicate. Grachev, A., 1995. Last Days: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Boulder, CO: West View Press. Webber, Mark., 1992. “The Third World and the Dissolution of the USSR.” Third World Quarterly 13:4, 691-713http://www.culture-of-peace.info/latsis/page6.htmlhttp://environment.about.com/od/chernobyl/p/chernobyl.htmhttp://sfr -21.org/collapse.html