According to the excerpt, what was the primary paradox inherent in Gorbachev’s reforms in the Soviet Union?

In his analysis of the Soviet collapse, Richard Pipes contends that Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, though well-intentioned, exposed the deep structural problems within the Soviet system. According to Pipes, policies like glasnost and perestroika loosened the strictures of authoritarian control, yet simultaneously unleashed forces that the regime could no longer contain. The historian argues that these reforms created a paradox where increased openness led to a loss of centralized authority. He notes that the criticisms of the existing order grew louder as the system’s inadequacies became more visible. Pipes reflects on how the erosion of control inevitably accelerated the disintegration of Soviet power. His work suggests that the fall of communism was as much a result of structural economic failures as it was of political liberalization.

• Richard Pipes, The End of an Era, 1995