Mikhail Gorbachev — "The breakup of the Soviet Union was a crime. It was a betrayal of the people."
The breakup of the Soviet Union was a crime. It was a betrayal of the people.
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More from Mikhail Gorbachev
"The path to the future is not easy, but it is the only path."
"I have always believed in the power of dialogue."
"I am not a magician. I cannot solve all problems overnight."
"History will judge us."
"We need a new way of thinking, a new vision of the world."
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.