Mikhail Gorbachev — "I am a socialist by conviction. But I am also a realist."
I am a socialist by conviction. But I am also a realist.
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More from Mikhail Gorbachev
"I consider myself a lucky man. I have lived to see a new world."
"We must break down the walls of mistrust. To build bridges of cooperation."
"I am not afraid of glasnost. I am not afraid of criticism. I am not afraid of democracy."
"I am a confirmed atheist and I believe that to try to introduce God into a discussion about the Soviet Union is a mistake."
"The main problem of Russia is corruption. It is eating away at the country."
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.