It seemed that the sole reason that the downfall of communism took so long was the veto power of the Soviet Union. Due to Eastern Europe's longtime adherence to communist policies, these nations faced great difficulty i

Mikhail Gorbachev was a different kind of Soviet leader. He recognized that communists in the Soviet Union could not remain politically and economically isolated and that the Soviet system had to be changed if it was to survive. The key pieces to his plan was a series of reforms that included Glasnost - an openness and greater form of expression for the people, Perestroika - a restructuring as to decentralize the soviet economy with market reforms all of which were designed to reform, not abolish socialism, and the renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine.

The now weak soviet state was unable to prevent the separation of the republics, and even the republic of Russia turned away, choosing Boris Yeltsin as it's leader. Gorbachev found that there was no Soviet Union to be the leader of. Although he was unsuccessful in socialist reform, he brought a peaceful end to the cold war and dramatic changes to his country's economy, though not in the wa

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 638
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)