Perestroika

Etymology

Russian “перестройка” (perestroika), “restructuring” or “rebuilding,” from “pere-” (“re-, over”) plus “stroika” (“construction,” from “stroit’,” “to build”). It literally frames reform as rebuilding a structure. Introduced to save Soviet communism, it instead helped hasten its collapse.

noun · /pair-uh-STROY-kuh/
The Soviet program of economic and political restructuring under Gorbachev in the late 1980s.
What it names
The attempt to overhaul a rigid system from within — and the way such reforms can unleash forces their authors cannot control.
Example
Perestroika promised efficiency but delivered shortages and unrest.
Related idea
It pairs with glasnost; together the two policies were meant to modernize the Soviet Union, one reforming speech and the other its economy and institutions.