The relationship between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, although initially tenuous, and at times stubborn, was ultimately one of significant interpersonal familiarity and substantial compromise. Yet, in spite of Reagan’s desire to eliminate nuclear weapons, overt rhetoric, and aggressive actions during his administration, Gorbachev’s progressive approach to international relations and domestic initiatives made him most responsible for the conclusion of the Cold War.
When Gorbachev became the Soviet general secretary, he inherited significant domestic issues including a declining economic growth rate, bloated military budget, inadequate productivity, and poor living standards (Judge & Langdon, 239). In response to these issues, Gorbachev initiated a policy of glasnost, or openness, in an effort to address key problems instead of ignoring their
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Glasnost, although not the full granting of free speech, subsequently enabled a view of freedom to long oppressed Soviet citizens (239). Economically, Gorbachev’s perestroika effort, the restructuring of the Soviet system, intended to “decentralize the economy” through greater autonomy in factories and farms, profit incentives and a limited market economy, and the establishment of privately owned businesses and the encouragement of foreign investment (239). However perestroika evolved slowly, generated cynicism domestically, and ultimately failed (246, 266). Although Gorbachev’s economic failure lessened the probability that the Soviet Union could remain intact, perestroika and glasnost facilitated sufficient reform to ignite revolution throughout its sphere of influence (246). Finally, Gorbachev’s conscious decision to remain dormant in the face of these popular revolutions, specifically in East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,