There was a 'new political thinking' during the Gorbachev years. These ideas included the belief that the world had become interdependent, that there were universal interests and values that should prevail over class interests and the old East-West divide.

Thus it was thought that all countries had the right to decide for themselves the nature of their political and economic systems. These initiatives inspired East European countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary seeking independent statehood and had a de-stabilizing effect on the Soviet Union.