ABSTRACT
Six years after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power—first, as secretary general of the Communist party, later also as president of the Soviet Union—the dramatic changes in the Soviet system that began in 1985 had been interrupted by a conservative counterattack. The abandonment of an obligatory "general line" opened the door to a degree of free discussion unprecedented in Soviet practice at least since the 1920s. The first competitive elections in Soviet history and eventually the Party's abandonment of its monopoly of power encouraged the emergence of numerous rival parties. In the process of formulating, adopting, and implementing the reforms, those committed to changing the Soviet system faced a variety of obstacles and handicaps, some inevitable and others willed. The changes in Soviet politics and foreign policy precipitated by Gorbachev's leadership challenged the prevailing academic paradigms and the conventional wisdom regarding the Soviet system.
