WI: Perestroika but no Glasnost

An idea I had: what if Gorbachev implemented the USSR's economic refroms but kept a tighter leash on free speech. Basically, people would be allowed to make an occasional offhand remark about the Soviet government, but separatist movements, opposition parties and the like are kept forcefully repressed.

What happens? Does the USSR collapse as in OTL?
 
An idea I had: what if Gorbachev implemented the USSR's economic refroms but kept a tighter leash on free speech. Basically, people would be allowed to make an occasional offhand remark about the Soviet government, but separatist movements, opposition parties and the like are kept forcefully repressed.

What happens? Does the USSR collapse as in OTL?
It lasts a bit longer, but the Cold War keeps going and the exacerbating problems of the Soviet Union (i.e. the military-industrial complex spending far beyond its ability) end up having to be addressed at some point or another. Maybe, maybe, if the Soviets can take the OTL Chinese position of becoming a tech hub and cheap manufacturing hub, the US and USSR can get a cordial understanding going that makes the military spending issue moot. But that also depends a lot on who you get post-Reagan and whether they'd be willing to tolerate the odd Soviet crackdown for the sake of commerce.

tl;dr maybe but depends a lot on what the Soviet economy looks like and how the US responds to Soviet human rights abuses.
 
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