Mikhail Gorbachev was the general secretary of the Communist Party until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. He launched the policies of glasnost and perestroika in hoping to solve the slow economy. Gorbachev policies on nuclear deals reduce the bitterness in the relation between the nation - the United States and the Soviet Union. These policies helped people living in countries under communist rule to enjoy the freedom and finally ended the Cold War. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace and his role in the Cold War.