Which one of the following statements is **not** true about Perestroika?
It is the name of a book authored by Mikhail Gorbachev.
It was anti-Stalinist but not anti-socialist.
It reflected Gorbachev's ideas on the creation of Commonwealth of Independent States.
It emphasized a return to the ideals of Lenin.
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CISF-AC-EXE – 2019
– Statement A is true: Mikhail Gorbachev authored a book titled “Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World” explaining his reforms.
– Statement B is true: Perestroika sought to reform the existing socialist system, not abolish it, and was critical of the centralized, authoritarian aspects associated with Stalin’s rule (anti-Stalinist but not anti-socialist).
– Statement D is true: Gorbachev often invoked the ideals of Lenin, particularly his New Economic Policy (NEP), to justify market-oriented reforms and decentralization as a return to true Leninist principles that had been distorted by later Soviet leaders.
– Statement C is false: Perestroika was a policy aimed at reforming the Soviet Union itself. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed in December 1991 *after* the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a process that the failure of Perestroika to revitalize the USSR arguably accelerated. Perestroika did not aim to create the CIS; the CIS emerged as a successor entity after the USSR collapsed.