Mikhail Gorbachev — "Russia needs democracy, but it needs a strong state as well."
Russia needs democracy, but it needs a strong state as well.
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More from Mikhail Gorbachev
"My life has been full of struggle. And it will continue to be so."
"The main lesson of Chernobyl is that we must be responsible for our actions."
"I am not a dictator. I am a democrat. I believe in the power of the people."
"The Soviet Union will continue to exist."
"We must not be afraid to criticize ourselves."
About Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)
Final General Secretary of the Soviet Union whose glasnost and perestroika reforms led to the USSR's dissolution and the end of the Cold War. Closely associated with Boris Yeltsin (his domestic rival and successor as Russian leader) and Ronald Reagan (Cold War counterpart and arms-control partner). For an intellectual contrast, see Vladimir Putin, Russian president (2000-2008, 2012-) — Putin has publicly called the Soviet collapse 'the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century' — Gorbachev's signature achievement. Putin's two-decade political project has been organized around reversing Gorbachev's liberalization.