2 of 3

Write now Article Tools

Although there was no direct fighting between the USA and USSR for the entire 45-year period of the Cold War, it was nevertheless met with welcome relief when George W. Bush declared it officially over in the 1990s. The reasons for its end, though, were not as uniformly-agreed upon as were the sentiments regarding its end, and it was often argued between people the responsibility the giants of each side had for such, between Gorbachev and Reagan.

I believe, actually, that it was Gorbachev's domestic policies of perestroika and glasnost that had hastened the Communist fall in the Soviet Union (SU) rather than Reagan's foreign policies.

Perestroika paved the way for an economic restructuring which would destroy decades of Communist command economy. Communism theoretically believed in a socialist utopia, where money was non-existent as a medium of commerce, instead having all commodities of all workers distributed equally amongst all of the nation. Before transition to such a cashless utopia, state controls on production and prices would be the norm to best-ensure an equality of goods produced and its distribution. Switching to a capitalist-based structure, with perestroika introducing the laws of demand and supply to auto-adjust prices and output, not only undermined the original Communist ideals, but actually worsened the economic conditions it was trying to improve. For instance, where state-imposed quotas previously forced goods production, albeit of questionable quality, the abolishment of such would expose the lack of incentive for innovation and production by the Russian people, whom for decades of quotas had created inertia in them against performance and efficiency. An ideological defiance pleased not the hard-liners, nor was perestroika favoured by the masses who saw no improvement in living standards, leading to dissatisfaction with Gorbachev, and with it guilty by association, Communism.

Glasnost also hit the Soviet bureaucracy hard as the people were made aware of Communist failures and ineffectiveness. Previously political dissenters could be imprisoned or exiled to serve as a deterrence to others against Communist rule, but glasnost's allowance of speech freedom would lead to popular dissenter Andrei Sakharov's release, and with him a forceful voice rallying the Russians against the Soviet government. The Chernobyl incident could not be covered up, along with other failures of the government, which publicly created only more resentment among the Soviets

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Commentary on Mikhail Gorbachev's role in the ending of the Cold War: Success or failure?
We want to hear your view. Write now!