Collapse of USSR

What external factors lead to the collapse of Communism?

greed

Faggotry

Contrast in standard of living and freedom compared with even the poorest non-communist countries. Around 20% of the gdp of the soviet union went to the military, compare this to the highly criticised US expenditure of around 3% and it becomes obvious there was a lot of pressure to reform the state. The failure to subjugate Afghanistan put the last nail in the coffin of hardline military's Stalinists and when they sent tanks to prevent protests the soldiers just weren't fearful enough of their leaders to shoot Russians. This can be contrasted with China at the same time.