Mikhail Gorbachev

About Mikhail Gorbachev

The last Soviet leader, who attempted to reform the USSR through glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Gorbachevs reforms unintentionally led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan and signed arms reduction treaties with Reagan. Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He survived a coup attempt by hardliners in August 1991 but was unable to prevent the Soviet collapse. Gorbachev is admired in the West but viewed negatively by many Russians who blame him for the chaos of the 1990s. He died in 2022.