Cold War Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Gorbachev's reforms=== {{Further|Mikhail Gorbachev|Perestroika|Glasnost}} [[File:President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland.jpg|thumb|[[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in one-to-one discussions with US President [[Ronald Reagan]]]] [[File:Reagan and Gorbachev signing.jpg|thumb|Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan sign the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty|INF Treaty]] at the White House, 1987.]] By the time the comparatively youthful [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] became [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]] in 1985,{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|p=197}} the Soviet economy was stagnant and faced a sharp fall in foreign currency earnings as a result of the downward slide in oil prices in the 1980s.{{sfn|LaFeber|2002|pp=331β333}} These issues prompted Gorbachev to investigate measures to revive the ailing state.{{sfn|LaFeber|2002|pp=331β333}} An ineffectual start led to the conclusion that deeper structural changes were necessary, and in June 1987 Gorbachev announced an agenda of economic reform called ''[[perestroika]]'', or restructuring.{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|pp=231β233}} Perestroika relaxed the [[production quota]] system, allowed cooperative ownership of small businesses and paved the way for foreign investment. These measures were intended to redirect the country's resources from costly Cold War military commitments to more productive areas in the civilian sector.{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|pp=231β233}} Despite initial skepticism in the West, the new Soviet leader proved to be committed to reversing the Soviet Union's deteriorating economic condition instead of continuing the arms race with the West.{{sfn|LaFeber|2002|pp=300β340}} Partly as a way to fight off internal opposition from party cliques to his reforms, Gorbachev simultaneously introduced ''[[glasnost]]'', or openness, which increased freedom of the press and the transparency of state institutions.{{sfn|Gibbs|1999|p=7}} ''Glasnost'' was intended to reduce the corruption at the top of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] and moderate the [[abuse of power]] in the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]].{{sfn|Gibbs|1999|p=33}} Glasnost also enabled increased contact between Soviet citizens and the Western world, particularly with the United States, contributing to the accelerating [[dΓ©tente]] between the two nations.{{sfn|Gibbs|1999|p=61}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page