Paper on The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Its Impact on Eurasia Essay

Paper on The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Its Impact on Eurasia - Essay Example The states themselves had also to grapple with the realities of being on their own, and stitching new alliances with their neighbors and the rest of the world. Many of them saw internal revolutions, while others were content to let the status quo continue for sometime. Today, many of them have vibrant democracies and thriving economies, but this cannot be said of them all. The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR, was the world’s largest socialist state. When it was created in 1922, it comprised of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. By 1956, it comprised of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Russia was the most powerful of these, and the one that controlled the union. Before the union was dissolved in 1991, it extended from the Arctic ocean to the Afghan border with a population of roughly 293 million. The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics or the USSR comprised of fifteen republics that were made up of people of varied ethnicities and divergent nationalities. On the 25th. December 1991, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved and the fifteen states that comprised the USSR became independent. This also marked the end of the cold war. Alth ough on the face of it, the downfall of the Soviet Union looked sudden, inexplicable and startling, some long term factors provided a slow and gradual decline in its power, while other short term factors provided the trigger that precipitated its collapse. By the 1980s the communist ideology was on the decline, and the idea of the state being "the leading and guiding force of Soviet life the nucleus of its political system, of all state organs and public organs," (Lewin, 1991) was being questioned. Vladimir Lenin’s revolutionary vision of a system

Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism on Shanghai Research Paper

Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism on Shanghai - Research Paper Example Shanghai is the most industrialized metropolis in China and is counted as one of the major metropolitan cities of the world. Shanghai has more than 5,800 square kilometers. Most tourists visiting Shanghai are usually advised to travel with maps in order not to get lost. The metropolis is not only identified as a financial, economic, and trade center, but is also admired for its cultural as well as historical heritage. The capital city, Beijing, is approximately 1460 km away from Shanghai. Most tourists in China, who wish to visit Shanghai, usually take the two hour flight from the capital to Shanghai, or take a 17 hour train journey that allows them to enjoy the scenery. Shanghai tourist attractions are easy to get to from its main center. Some of these include the Yuyuan Gardens, the Bund, which is the embodiment of Shanghai's history in prominent architectural structures, the lake Dianshan Hu, and the Four Cornered Pagoda, which is locally referred to as the Fang Ta. Shanghai, which is China's business and financial headquarters, has in the recent past benefitted from a double-digit growth. The city got over 80 million foreign and domestic tourists in 2001, alone. No town in China has fully embraced modernity and technology in the same way as Shanghai has. When in Shanghai, a tourist may get the illusion that he or she is in Europe or America and not Communist China. Shanghai radiates a cosmopolitan quality that is characterized by the contemporary lifestyles of its citizens, busy industrial and financial districts, skyscrapers, one of the busiest harbors in the area and ultra-chic business centers like museums, hotels, and shopping malls. While Be ijing is recognized as the center of the political government of China, which sponsors the Chinese academic institutions, Shanghai is known worldwide as China’s economic center and an incredibly enterprising city. Once a tiny and sleepy fishing rural community in the 1800s, Shanghai has been turned into a most enchanting, decadent and refined Chinese city. According to (Moscardo 3), â€Å"Shanghai has been dubbed as the "Paris of the East." International tourism takes place when citizens from different nations travel across intercontinental borders outside their normal homes as well as places of work, and stay for more than 24 hours in their places of visitation. The motivations for such trips are diverse, but usually recognized as being largely influenced by health, recreation, friendship and family visits, education, business, sports, and religion. As one of the most significant sources of foreign exchange revenue, and an investment catalyst, knowledge disseminator, and em ployment generator, international tourism has grown to be one of Shanghai’s most significant industries. Tourism has developed swiftly in Shanghai. At present, China is investing a lot of capital in promoting tourism and revising laws that govern its tourist industry. In the coming years, China expects to experience even more growth in this area, with the lion share of this development taking place in Shanghai. China’s tourism industry was somewhat affected by SARS scare but recovered swiftly. China is projected to be the world’s most fashionable tourist destination in the next decade. According to (Pike and Ryan 333), â€Å"tourism in Shanghai is a colossal labor intensive business that