| In one dramatic gesture, Gorbachev broke with the policies of the Brezhnev era and unleashed a new program of glasnost. |
| In his second, he sought an accommodation with Moscow, even coming close to agreeing total nuclear disarmament with Mikhail Gorbachev. |
| In 1990, the Supreme Soviet elected Gorbachev as the country's president for a term of five years. |
| Gorbachev had a chance to address Katyn during a July 1988 state visit to Warsaw, but dodged the issue. |
| Painfully aware of the contradiction between the policy of glasnost and the party's handling of the Chernobyl crisis, Gorbachev at last acted. |
| Anyway, the Pope was one of many people who played a role in the collapse of Sovietism, from Gorbachev to Reagan. |
