Editing Brezhnev Doctrine (section)

==Renunciation==
The long lasting struggle of the [[Soviet–Afghan War|war in Afghanistan]] made the Soviets realize that their reach and influence was in fact limited. "[The war in Afghanistan] had shown that socialist internationalism and Soviet national interests were not always compatible."<ref name=":3" />  Tensions between the USSR and Czechoslovakia since 1968, as well as Poland in 1980, proved the inefficiencies inherent in the Brezhnev Doctrine. The [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] trade union protests in Poland were suppressed without outside intervention, leaving the Brezhnev doctrine effectively dead. Although the Kremlin wanted to preserve communism in its satellites, the decision was not to intervene. Gorbachev's [[Glasnost]] and [[Perestroika]] finally opened the door for Soviet Bloc countries and republics to make reforms without fear of Soviet intervention. When [[East Germany]] desperately asked for Soviet troops to put down [[Peaceful Revolution|growing unrest]] in 1989, Gorbachev flatly refused.<ref>{{cite book|author=Matthew J. Ouimet|title=The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFSwrUcuDWsC&pg=PA243|year=2003|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|pages=243–45|isbn=9780807854112}}</ref>