The
Sinatra Doctrine was the name that the
Soviet government of
Mikhail Gorbachev used to describe their policy of allowing neighboring
Warsaw Pact nations to determine their own internal affairs. This doctrine, named after the
Frank Sinatra song "My Way" because it allowed these nations to go their own way, contrasted with the earlier
Brezhnev Doctrine, which had been used to justify the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia in
1968.
As a result of this new policy, the various Eastern bloc allies of the Soviet Union initiated democratic reforms and, in 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, signalling the end of the Cold War.