Perestroika is the name of the late-1980s reform policy instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. This policy gave Soviet citizens more political and economic freedom and it effectively ended the Cold War. Eventually it led to the break up of the Soviet Union, as lots of countries under Soviet control were allowed to peacefully overthrow their communist governments. Soon Russia was just Russia again. Perestroika literally translates to "restructuring." The world has fallen apart and now we need to come back together again in new and more productive ways. Am I making sense?
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