Mikhail Gorbachev — "The Soviet model was doomed from the start."
The Soviet model was doomed from the start.
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More from Mikhail Gorbachev
"We cannot build socialism without democracy. This is a fundamental truth."
"I don't think there's anything more important than a good laugh, and I don't think I've ever been with a group of people who couldn't find something to laugh about."
"I support Putin in his efforts to restore Russia's greatness."
"We need to democratize the party. To give more power to the rank and file."
"I am a fighter. I will continue to fight for my ideals."
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.