Cold War (1985–1991) reduced some strategic arms unilaterally. Fundamental to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Gorbachev policy initiatives of Restructuring ("Perestroika") and Openness ("Glasnost") had ripple effects throughout the Soviet world, including eventually making it impossible to reassert central control over Warsaw Pact member states without resorting to military force. On June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further with his reforms and democratization by tearing down the Berlin Wall. In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate next to the wall, Reagan stated: While the aging communist European leaders kept their states in the grip of "normalization", Gorbachev's reformist policies
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The freedoms of thought and organization, which were allowed by Gorbachev, led to a rise in nationalism in the Soviet republics, indirectly weakening the central authorities. In response to this, a referendum was held in 1991, in which most of the union republics voted to preserve the union in a different form. In reaction to this, conservative elements within the CPSU launched the August 1991 coup, which overthrew Gorbachev but failed to preserve the Soviet Union. When Gorbachev returned after the coup's collapse, he resigned from the CPSU and operations were handed over to Ivashko. The CPSU was outlawed on