Was perestroika doomed from the outset?

Lisa Kealy

Was Perestroika Doomed from the Outset?

The theory that perestroika was doomed from the outset is a convincing one. The

question explicitly denotes that that there were factors that would have made it inevitable

that perestroika was doomed from the beginning. Although, it can be said that a multitude

of consequent events may have led to its failure, rather than it being a failed program

before it was even implemented. Perestroika or restructuring was an initiative, in which

the fundamental pillars of its being were glasnost and democratisation, two things the

USSR had relatively no experience of. The newly introduced lack of censorship through

glasnost was a major factor in perhaps why perestroika was doomed to fail. It introduced

clarity and openness to a system, which thrived upon secrecy. "The Soviet system thrived

on three pillars, ideology, the CPSU and a strong state. Gorbachev proceeded to

undermine them all."

Gorbachev's perestroika may have indeed been doomed to fail from the outset. To

examine this question it is necessary to illustrate the reasons why. Were the aims of the

project too high? Was Gorbachev trying to reform a system that essentially could not be

reformed? Were the communist party and the Soviet Union on borrowed time and did

perestroika and glasnost, in fact just hasten the inevitable? All of these questions illustrate

how it is possible that perestroika was doomed from the outset.

The aims of perestroika were indeed sweeping changes to the former rigid and

predictable Communist way of thinking. Perestroika in its initial phase was "largely an

economic program. Gorbachev had recognized that the economy was not performing

well." It was clear to the leader of the CPSU that the economy needed to be restored.

The way in which Gorbachev attempted to do this may have lead...