In 1991, the Red Giant collapsed with a bang, causing a ripple effect on the global political landscape. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been fewer and fewer socialist countries in the world. To this day, only five countries are still adhering to a socialist form of government.
In addition to the mainland, there are four other countries in the world that continue the path pioneered by the Soviet Union and maintain communist ideology: North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. For what reasons did these countries persevere? What is their national strength and development status today? Today we are going to talk about this topic.
The first thing to say is, of course, our northern neighbor, North Korea. This East Asian "thorn" that scolds the United States today and Japan and South Korea tomorrow is now the most famous socialist country in the world except for the mainland. The biggest reason why the DPRK should continue to adhere to the socialist road is that the influence of the Soviet Union is deeply rooted in the bone marrow.
During the Cold War, North Korea was not only an important neighbor of the Soviet Union, but even the entire country could be said to be supported by the "big brother". Without the Soviet Union, North Korea would most likely be wiped off the world map by the old United States, which is eyeing it fiercely. The massive economic aid given by the Soviet Union also made North Korea very prosperous, and the quality of life of the people was much better than that of South Korea in the south.
When the Soviet Union was still there, the DPRK was thriving with the support of the "big brother". The CPSU's economic policy of "unified purchase and marketing" in the socialist member states has made the DPRK enjoy considerable dividends. North Korea sold its agricultural products to the Soviet Union at a high price in exchange for energy and industrial products at the "cabbage price". As a result, the Soviet Union and North Korea developed a highly bound relationship.
Being highly bound to the "Big Brother" was undoubtedly comfortable during the Cold War, but as soon as the red giant fell, North Korea's hard days came. Economically, without the blood transfusion supply from the Soviet Union, and politically, it was constantly suppressed and sanctioned by the United States, which was no longer constrained and a dominant family, and the DPRK could only mobilize the whole country to "march through suffering" to tide over the difficulties, which can be regarded as surviving the most difficult days.
Although North Korea was able to save itself from the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was unable to carry out new changes. The old path dependence formed during the Soviet period made it impossible for the DPRK to integrate into the new world economic system, and it could only rigidly follow the established national policy and follow the old ways of the last century. Like our country, the DPRK does not have that condition.
Compared with North Korea, which quickly became impoverished as soon as the Soviet Union died, Vietnam, which is also a socialist country, is much better.
Like North Korea, Vietnam is also a neighbor of the mainland, and it is deeply influenced by us in terms of history and culture. The Vietnamese people were able to adhere to the socialist form of government because they had found a trick to the country's development: crossing the river by feeling the mainland.
Whether it is reform, opening up, or modernization, Vietnam has learned from the past in the form of "blending" the mainland's advanced experience. Through the "copy and paste" of mainland policy, Vietnam has successfully achieved the status of a leading country in Southeast Asia, and its development potential is one of the best in the world.
However, in the process of studying the mainland, Vietnam's socialist system has been deformed to a certain extent due to the influence of the old and American forces in the political arena. The most lethal of these is that the military interferes in politics and the troops do business, which directly brings Vietnam's political system closer to the direction of the military junta.
In Vietnam, a businessman or civil servant can hardly do anything without military connections. In South Vietnam, where the Lao American influence is the deepest, the local garrison even has the right to collect taxes. As for the illegal expropriation of civilians' real estate and the exploitation of people's interests through monopolies, it is even more common. Therefore, many people have commented that Vietnam is a military government dressed in the skin of socialism.
However, the Vietnamese people are now living a much better life than the DPRK, and this has strengthened their determination to continue to copy our policies. I believe that in the future, Vietnam will continue to take China as a teacher and continue to collect our country's wool.
North Korea had difficulty breaking through the shackles of the Soviet system, and Vietnam had found a new path of development for itself by learning from the mainland, but it could not get rid of the shadow of the military junta. These two countries have their own difficulties, and Laos, which is also a socialist country in Asia, also has its own difficulties.
As one of the poorest countries in Asia, Laos still adheres to the socialist system, which can be summed up in two words: no money. Institutional reform comes at a cost, and Laos' meagre fiscal revenue simply cannot support the government's big moves.
Laos is weak and the people are poor, not because the people do not work hard, or the government makes mistakes in decision-making, but because the country's foundation is too poor. Both geographical location and natural resources have severely limited the local economy.
Laos, which is neighbors of Vietnam and the mainland at the same time, has mountains blocking it with both neighboring countries, and cross-border transportation is very inconvenient. In Laos, in addition to the abundance of timber, there are no decent natural resources, and minerals and energy are even more scarce.
You must know that energy is the blood of industrial development, and the lack of energy resources in Laos is basically doomed to the inability to establish a mature industrial chain in Laos. As a result, the only sources that can generate income for the country are agriculture and forestry, which have very small profits.
If Laos is an island country, it can also "go out" by sea and explore a new path for the country's development. Unfortunately, it is a landlocked country, with many mountains and little flat land, and the people can only live in the homeland.
It is already extremely hard to survive, and the Lao people naturally do not have the heart to carry out superstructure changes, but how they were in the past and are still the same. Since Laos belonged to the socialist camp during the Cold War, there was no need to change even if the Soviet Union collapsed.
Fortunately, with the gradual unfolding of the mainland's "One Belt, One Road" centennial plan in recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has become closer and closer, and Laos' national fortune has ushered in a once-in-a-lifetime turnaround. They deliberately spent a huge amount of money and asked the mainland to help build the China-Laos cross-border railway, intending to open up their own land communication lines. It is believed that after the completion of this cross-border railway, Laos' social economy will usher in a new look.
In addition to the mainland, there are now four socialist countries in the world, among which North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos are all Asian countries, and they are all our neighbors. There is only one socialist country isolated in distant Latin America: Cuba, the neighbor of the United States.
Regarding the country of Cuba, netizens' comments are appropriate: Heaven is too far away, and the United States is too close. During the Cold War, Cuba was backed by the Soviet Union, and it was safe and sound to practice socialism under the nose of the United States. But with the "big brother" driving west, Cuba has a hard time.
There are two main reasons why Cuba is still able to adhere to the socialist road, one is the wisdom of its leaders, and the other is the influence of communist ideology in Latin America. In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Castro immediately launched a national mobilization and called on the whole country to tide over the difficulties. Through his series of policy arrangements, Cuba has not been subverted by the old American forces and still maintains a socialist system.
At the same time, the rising communist trends and a series of social movements in Latin America have also provided Cuba with considerable moral support. Although Cuba is relatively poor, it still maintains a high degree of autonomy and independence under the continuous blockade of Laos and the United States, and has made great achievements in the fields of medicine. In Latin America, which is nicknamed the "backyard of the old United States", it has to be said that it is quite commendable.
The five socialist countries in the world have very different development conditions and national strengths. In the future, they will face new challenges. Which do you think is better, the surname "capital" or the surname "she"? Everyone is welcome to exchange and discuss in the comment area.