In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was beginning to realize what it needed to succeed, whether economically, socially or policy. The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, was trying to reform the Soviet Union itself by focusing more on the economic side of things, not the system itself. He introduced two different policies, Glasnost and Perestroika. These reforms helped the citizens of the Soviet Union, but caused other problems within the nation. When the nation could no longer benefit from these policies, it began to collapse and, ironically, many citizens perished. This was a domino effect for all other countries in the Soviet Union's trading system, especially Cuba. The investigative plan of this essay is to determine the implications of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its impact on the Cuban economy. The investigation will assess how the Soviet Union collapsed and the subsequent repercussions for Cuba, as well as how Cuba changed internally. This survey will answer my question; "How did the fall of the Soviet Union affect the Cuban economy in 1991?" » The Soviet Union took advantage of its resources and became one of the most prosperous countries of the time. They were the largest country in the world with the largest land area and were called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, better known as the USSR. They had a huge impact on other countries and played an important role in the timeline of history, that is, they had one of the largest armies, making them the most strong. (Odom, William) When Mikhail S. Gorbachev was the leader of the socialist Soviet Union (Strayer, Robert) he created two policies trying to create reforms middle of paper...... in W. and Sarah H. Levinson. “Cuba since 1991.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, nd Web. November 14, 2013. Loss, Jacqueline and González José Manuel Prieto. “Introduction: pages 1 to 5.” Rum caviar: Cuba-USSR and the post-Soviet experience. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. N. pag. Print.Odom, William E. The Collapse of the Soviet Army. Connecticut: Yale University, 1998. Print. Roger Chapman. Review of Strayer, Robert, Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? : Understanding historical change. H-Russia, H-Net review. July 1999Strayer, Robert W. “Defining the Soviet Collapse.” In Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? understand historical change. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 1998. 4. The fall and recovery of the Cuban economy in the 1990s: mirage or reality?, issues 2001-2048 http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev .php? identifier=3286