Mikhail Gorbachev — "The Soviet Union needs democracy like the air it breathes."
The Soviet Union needs democracy like the air it breathes.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Mikhail Gorbachev
"If we do not move forward, we will be left behind. We will be condemned to stagnation."
"The process of democratization is irreversible. But it will be a long and difficult road."
"The fate of the world is in our hands."
"I like to talk. I'm a talker. I love to talk."
"The people are the ultimate judge. Their opinion matters most."
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.