3. Glasnost: The policy of maximal
publicity, openness, and transparency in
the activities of all government
institutions in the Soviet Union, together
with freedom of information, introduced
by Mikhail Gorbachev.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Glasnost Poster slogan is "Be Bold,
Comrade! Openness is Our Strength!"

4. This word appeared in 1985-1990 years as a part of the
program of reforms called Perestroika, whose goals
included combating corruption and the abuse of
privilege by the political classes. In the broadest
sense, it aimed to liberalize freedom of the press
gradually, and to allow for freedom of dissent. The
policy met resistance during the 1986 Chernobyl
disaster, when authorities hid the true extent of the
nuclear accident for several days.

5. While in the West the notion of "glasnost" is associated with freedom of
speech, the main goal of this policy was to make the country's
management transparent and open to debate, thus circumventing the
narrow circle of apparatchiks who previously exercised complete control
of the economy. Through reviewing the past or current mistakes being
made, it was hoped that the Soviet people would back reforms such as
perestroika.

6. During the late 1980s, as glasnost and perestroika led to the liquidation of
the Soviet empire, the Dakin building was the location for a series of
groups facilitating United States-Russian contacts. They included the
Center for U.S.-U.S.S.R. Initiatives, which helped more than 1000 Americans
visit the Soviet Union and more than 100 then-Soviet citizens visit the U.S.

7. Perestroika: The Russian term (now used in English) for the
economic reforms introduced in June 1985 by the Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is
"restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet
economy.
Perestroika Reconstruction

8. The most significant of Gorbachev's reforms in the foreign economic sector
allowed foreigners to invest in the Soviet Union in the form of joint ventures
with Soviet ministries, state enterprises, and cooperatives. The original version
of the Soviet Joint Venture Law, which went into effect in June 1987, limited
foreign shares of a Soviet venture to 49 percent and required that Soviet
citizens occupy the positions of chairman and general manager. After
potential Western partners complained, the government revised the
regulations to allow majority foreign ownership and control. Under the terms
of the Joint Venture Law, the Soviet partner supplied labor, infrastructure,
and a potentially large domestic market. The foreign partner supplied
capital, technology, entrepreneurial expertise, and, in many cases, products
and services of world competitive quality.

9. The new system bore the characteristics of neither central planning nor a
market economy. Instead, the Soviet economy went from stagnation to
deterioration. At the end of 1991, when the union officially dissolved, the
national economy was in a virtual tailspin. In 1991 Soviet GDP had declined
by 17 percent and was declining at an accelerating rate. Overinflation was
becoming a major problem. Between 1990 and 1991, retail prices in the
Soviet Union increased 140 percent.