Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was the final leader of the Soviet Union, serving as General Secretary from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991.
His policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) aimed to reform the Soviet system but instead accelerated its collapse.
In the West, Gorbachev is often credited with ending the Cold War; in Russia, opinion is more divided, with some viewing him as the man who lost an empire.
The Gorbachev era transformed Eastern Europe.
Former communist superpower
- KremlinMoscow's fortified government seat
- MoscowRussia's capital city
- PolitburoCommunist party's governing body
- Cold WarProlonged East-West standoff
Iron Curtain · Eastern Bloc · Warsaw Pact · KGB · Red Army · Chernobyl · Brezhnev · Yeltsin
Agent of institutional improvement
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- controversialCausing public dispute
- coup attemptFailed government overthrow effort
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
Soviet collapse · democratization · liberation · Eastern Europe · Berlin Wall · freedom · transition · post-Soviet
American presidential surname
- ThatcherStraw roof maker
- BushAmerican political surname
- KohlGerman political surname
- summitPeak or diplomatic gathering
Geneva · Reykjavik · Malta · Washington · détente · START · arms control · nuclear disarmament
Quality of being accessible
- transparencyState of being see-through
- press freedomRight to publish uncensored
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- free speechProtected verbal liberty
information · Sakharov · samizdat · truth-telling · public debate · democratization · liberalization · criticism
Rearranging an existing framework
- economic reformSystematic policy modernization
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- market reformPolicy easing trade restrictions
privatization · cooperatives · inefficiency · stagnation · command economy · acceleration · central planning · shortages
USSR
Former communist superpower
- KremlinMoscow's fortified government seat
- MoscowRussia's capital city
- PolitburoCommunist party's governing body
Cold War · Iron Curtain · Eastern Bloc · Warsaw Pact · KGB · Red Army · Chernobyl · Brezhnev · Yeltsin · Central Committee
reformer
Agent of institutional improvement
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- controversialCausing public dispute
- coup attemptFailed government overthrow effort
resignation · Soviet collapse · democratization · liberation · Eastern Europe · Berlin Wall · freedom · transition · post-Soviet · criticism
Reagan
American presidential surname
summit · Geneva · Reykjavik · Malta · Washington · détente · START · arms control · nuclear disarmament · rapprochement
openness
Quality of being accessible
- transparencyState of being see-through
- press freedomRight to publish uncensored
- dissentDisagreement with authority
free speech · information · Sakharov · samizdat · truth-telling · public debate · democratization · liberalization · criticism · journalism
restructuring
Rearranging an existing framework
- economic reformSystematic policy modernization
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
market reform · privatization · cooperatives · inefficiency · stagnation · command economy · acceleration · central planning · shortages · rationing
- Post-Soviet FiguresPutin, Yeltsin, Lukashenko, Medvedev, Zelensky
- Russian FiguresStalin, Lenin, Trotsky, Brezhnev, Khrushchev
- RussiaRussia, Moscow, Kremlin, Red Square, Siberia
- World LeadersChurchill, Winston Churchill, Eisenhower, Thatcher, Mao
- 20th Century IconsEinstein, Churchill, Gandhi, Hitler, FDR
- 80sbig hair, mullets, shoulder pads, new wave, synth-pop
GorbachevStalin
Soviet autocrat, mid-century
Brezhnev · hardliner · Kim Il-sung · Pol Pot · Molotov
GorbachevReagan
American presidential surname
hardliner · hawk · militarist · warmonger
GorbachevStalin
Soviet autocrat, mid-century
Lenin · empire builder · Putin · consolidator · strongman