The cold war effectively came to an end when the USSR dissolved.
The USSR spent a lot of money promoting communism and squashing rebellions. For example, Poland, Berlin, Austria. They also spent a lot of money in their wars. For example, the USSR invasion of Afghanistan. Another sector that they spent enormous amounts of money, was the arm and space race.$^0$
Perestroika was the program initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid 1980s. Perestroika means restructuring. The goal was to bring the USSR up to the economic development of the west.$^{10}$ In order to do this, Gorbachev wished to incorporate some parts from free-market capitalism into the USSR economy. For example, loosening price controls, encouraging entrepreneurism and private businesses. He said in his 1987 speech, “It is particularly important that the actual pay of every worker be closely linked to his personal contribution to the end result, and that no limit be set.”.$^{11}$
Glasnost was another program by Gorbachev at the same time. It means openness. He believed that the political system needed to be opened up. He also believed that the only path to economic and social recovery of the USSR was the inclusion of the people in the political process. Glasnost also granted the media a greater freedom of expression, which then began to criticize Gorbachev. $^{13}$ Glasnost created dramatic changes in the USSR. It led to the end of the one-party domination.$^{12}$
After 74 years, the USSR collapsed and gave way to 15 separate nations. The list is: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Russia.
Every single Eastern Bloc country abandons communism. They did this through a set of revolutions called the 1989 revolutions.
Every country that was apart of the former USSR, became democratic and capitalist. Specifically, the biggest country, Russia, rejoined the international community as a democracy.
There are only five communist nations left. These are: Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, and North Korea.