Were perestroika and glasnost necessary?
Mikhail Gorbachev simply would not have become Party leader , in 1985, without the support of powerful elements that were in the Soviet system who recognized the fact that reform was needed in The Soviet Union. After decades of a ruinous arms race with the West, the Soviet economy and social structure was deflated and stagnent. Although there was consensus for change among officials, the form it should take was not yet clear. The Cold War was creating many tensions in the USSR while Mikhail Gorbachev’s personal charm helped to improve relationships with the West, which welcomed his style of leadership after decades of “hardline” Soviet General Secretaries of The Soviet Communist Party. Even more important for Gorbachev, and more crucial then international relations, was for the need of the Soviet government to tackle it’s many domestic problems. Gorbachev announced a “direction” for ending the stifling conformity of the Soviet lifestyle by introducing “Glastnost”, or oppeness, in both
