\n<\/p>\n
Mikhail Gorbachev, whose drive to transform the Soviet Union ended the Cold War but inadvertently helped bring about his own country\u2019s collapse, has died, according to Russian news agencies. He was 91. The Tass, RIA Novosti, and Interfax agencies cited the Central Clinical Hospital, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Gorbachev\u2019s reign as the last Soviet premier from 1985 until 1991 was marked indelibly by two bywords: perestroika \u2014 literally \u201crestructuring,\u201d but implying reform \u2014 and glasnost, or \u201copenness,\u201d symbols of his intent to shake off the torpor caused by seven decades of authoritarian rule and staid central planning. Hoping to return the Communist Party to its roots in Vladimir Lenin\u2019s October Revolution of 1917, Gorbachev opened up the Soviet political system to broader political participation, public scrutiny, and a re-examination of Josef Stalin\u2019s legacy of mass imprisonment and murder, prompting years of national soul-searching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n