Нужен хороший и качественный in march 1985 mikhail gorbachev became general secretary of the communist party of the soviet union. he inherited a vast country comprising 15 republics the economy of which was close to collapse and where corruption flourished. the country badly needed reform, although few could foresee its effects. gorbachev approached the problems of this country by introducing two new policies: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). his aims were lo identify those areas that needed reform and encourage popular debate about how best to deal with them. at first, such policies were welcomed, but as the shortcomings of the system were revealed, people soon became discontented: the problems turned out to be so deep-rooted that only radical reforms could solve them. the initial optimism, however, did have an effect on relations between the soviet union and the west. as early as november 1985, gorbachev met us president ronald reagan in geneva for the first superpower summit since 1979. the summit showed that a new atmosphere of cooperation between the two countries was emerging. a second summit at reykjavik in iceland , in 1986, at which gorbachev offered dramatic cuts to nuclear weapons, was not very successful, although the proposals were not ignored.