Paper Summary:

This paper examines the era of the Cold War and in particular, the role played by Mikhail Gorbachev in influencing the course of historical events in the 1980s. The thesis is argued that Gorbachev initiated the processes that brought about the end of the Cold War not so much in response to international conditions so much as to the domestic situation in the Soviet Union - both economic and political. It also argues that he realized that immediate steps to reform were required if the Soviet Union were to meet the challenges of a new era.

Outline:
Introduction
The Soviet Union Before Gorbachev
The Domestic Climate of the USSR
Gorbachev's "New Thinking" and the End of the Cold War
Riding the Dragon of Reform
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"While it is undeniable that Mikhail Gorbachev is the single most important Soviet figure during the 1980s, and arguably the personality most responsible for the end of the Cold War, his rise to power in the Soviet system represents a fascinating problem for students of Soviet history. Indeed, several years after Gorbachev had come to power George Kennan - the U.S. diplomat who had played a key role in the development of the "containment strategy" in the 1940s - was asked in a television interview how so unconventional a figure could have risen to the top of the Soviet system that had - during the long Brezhnev era - being characterized as moribund and extremely conservative. Kennan's response is illuminating: "I really cannot explain it." "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chernyaev, Anatoly. The Diary of an Assistant to the President of the USSR. In Cold War International History Project Online.
• DeLuca, Anthony. Ghandi, Mao, Mandela and Gorbachev. London: Praeger, 2000.
• Evangelista, Matthew. Unarmed Forces. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999.
• Gaddis, John. The United States and the End of the Cold War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Gorbachev, Mikhail. Memoirs.

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