IB History US Foreign Policy Notes

Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–1991)

Background and Rise to Power

• Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1985, during a time of economic decline and political stagnation in the USSR.
• The Soviet Union was struggling with a weak economy, poor productivity, high military costs, and low morale among its citizens.
• Gorbachev believed that reform was the only way to save socialism and modernize the Soviet system.
• He was younger and more open-minded than previous Soviet leaders and aimed to renew the legitimacy of the Communist Party through transparency and restructuring.

Domestic Reforms: Perestroika and Glasnost

• Gorbachev launched two major reforms:
  • Perestroika (restructuring): reforming the Soviet economy by introducing limited market mechanisms, encouraging small private businesses, and reducing government control.
  • Glasnost (openness): increasing freedom of speech, transparency in government, and access to information, allowing open criticism of the state.
• These policies aimed to revive the economy and democratize Soviet society, but they also weakened Communist Party control.
• Political reforms followed, such as multi-candidate elections and a more independent parliament.
• Glasnost exposed government failures, corruption, and the truth about past repressions like Stalin’s purges, causing public disillusionment with communism.

Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War

• Gorbachev’s foreign policy, known as “New Thinking,” aimed to reduce tensions with the West and shift focus from military power to diplomacy and cooperation.
• He signed key arms reduction treaties with the U.S., including the INF Treaty (1987) with Ronald Reagan, marking a turning point in East–West relations.
• Gorbachev ended the Brezhnev Doctrine, allowing Eastern European countries to decide their own political futures, leading to the fall of communist regimes in 1989.
• He withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan (1989), signaling an end to decades of costly interventions.
• These changes helped end the Cold War, but also accelerated the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe.

Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

• Gorbachev’s reforms unintentionally weakened central authority and encouraged nationalist movements across the USSR.
• Economic problems worsened as old systems broke down faster than new ones could take effect.
• In 1991, a failed coup by hardline Communists tried to overthrow Gorbachev, but it only hastened the Soviet collapse.
• By December 1991, the USSR dissolved, and Boris Yeltsin became president of the new Russian Federation.
• Gorbachev resigned, ending 70 years of communist rule, but his role in ending the Cold War peacefully made him one of the most significant figures of the 20th century.