Understand how the Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika emerged and the role they played in the collapse of the USSR.

In 1985, reform-minded Mikhail Gorbachev came to power as General Secretary of the Soviet Union. He introduced reforms along liberal lines. The two reforms most commonly associated with him are glasnost and perestroika. Glasnost means 'openness' and refers to government transparency and increased freedom of expression.

Perestroika refers to a series of political and economic reforms meant to kickstart the stagnant 1980s economy of the Soviet Union. Its architect, President Mikhail Gorbachev, would oversee the most fundamental changes to his nation's economic engine and political structure since the Russian Revolution.