2-Gorbachev-Diplomacy

focus on //Soviet Diplomacy//
Basically, after reading the Russia, America, and the Cold War book, you should know the following: Gorbachev came into power in 1985. Mind you, this is only 6 years before the end of the Cold War. CLEARLY his reforms were drastic and sudden. Here is a fun video I am sure you all watched that discusses it vaguely:  @http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost Here is a more detailed account of what was going on:

Reagan was the Pres during this time in America. He hated Russia on principle, even though he had never been. He thought they were evil communists! Gorbachev, on the other hand, thought that Socialism worked, but that the system was flawed. He began his process of Glasnost and Perestroika which means openness and restructuring. In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev met at the first of 5 summits in Geneva. The subsequent summits were held in Reykjavik, Washington, Moscow, and New York. Each of these summits brought about further international relations and plans of peace and cooperation between the USSR and the US. Gorbachev first began by allowing the Eastern European countries to have greater sovereignty. He stated that the Brezhnev doctrine had died, and that the people could decide on their own leadership. In the same year, the Warsaw Pact was created to ensure this. Gorbachev still maintained the belief that socialism was a successful political ideology and assumed the the eastern Europeans would only support this. This ultimately caused many problems for the USSR because the other countries began to split off into sovereign nations. He also made policies to implement a stronger Market Based economy than the command economy which had prevailed for a majority of the cold war. This never was truly successful as many aspects of the economy could no longer function without the support of the Big Brother. To be as successful as the United States, they would need to become 100% market economy, which was what was proposed by his radical economist advisor. One major policy difference for Gorbachev was the fact that he was intent on limiting nuclear war. The US and USSR signed multiple treaties during this time limiting the trial of nuclear weapons as well as stopping the arms race by reversing the amount of stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 and helped to reduce the stockpiles of intermediate range nuclear forces. As Gorbachev was gaining popularity internationally, he was losing popularity domestically, and in droves. The people of Russia were split into the Communist party—who were worried at the turn of events lead by Gorbachev—and the people who saw it as a possible loss of power. Boris Yeltsin was voted in as the President of the Russian Confederation by this point. Gorbachev was losing power over the loosely connected countries which had once made up the Soviet Union. Soviet Union remained as the states surrounding Russia simply refused to be controlled any longer, and the International Stage no longer recognized it as a union. In relation to Soviet Diplomacy, the reforms of the Gorbachev era made the USSR more agreeable in the eyes of the world. Domestic rifts definitely ensued, particularly within the communist party which Gorbachev saw as corrupt. The west was surprised at how much Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, though, which worked in their favor in the end. He recognized that mutual benefit could be gained from peace. Each of the treaties and summits mentioned is a direct reflection of the Openness and Reforms of the Gorbachev era.

**"We understand that in today's world of mutual interdependence, progress is unthinkable for any society which is fenced off from the world by impenetrable state frontiers and ideological barriers. A country can develop its full potential by interacting with other societies, yet without giving up its own identity"**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">-Gorbachev on his reform ideology

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**"We have to keep on applying pressure on the American administration by explaining our positions to the public and demonstrate that the responsibility for the failure to agree on the limitation and liquidation of nuclear armaments rests fairly and squarely with the Americans"**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">-Gorbachev after failing to make agreements with America after the Reykjavik summit

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**"'SDI is the continuation of the arms race into a different, more dangerous sphere'"**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">-Gorbachev, after failing to convince Reagan to move SDI testing to the laboratory only.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">CITE SOURCES:

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Boukovsky, Vladimir, //Jugement a Moscou. Un Dissident Dans Les Archives du Kremlin,// Robert Laffont, Paris, 1995, pp.482-3.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Gorbachev, Mikhail, //Memoirs//, Doubleday, London,1996, p. 407