Dear CCI Friends,
I have my own perspective on Mikhail Gorbachev and “Who Destroyed the USSR” as do many others. I cringe when Russians and Americans assume that Gorbachev should have known how or what to do to regarding the break up of the USSR with its 286,000,000 peoples across 11 time zones.
There was no person around who could even think seriously how to break up the Soviet Union, there had never been such a huge, overarching, dictatorial country on the planet. The average Russian or the other 159 nationalities living in the 11 time zones were at the mercy of whoever was in power. Of all others available, Mikhail Gorbachev was probably the most sensitive and kind-hearted. Rumor has it that he was mentored secretly in the basement of the U.S.-Canada Institute by Georgi Arbatov, the closet innovator among the other Communists.
Gorbachev welcomed President Reagan with open arms, he trusted that Americans would be truthful with him regarding NATO, not moving farther than East Germany. During a coup attempt, his beloved wife sustained a stroke from which she never recovered. His greatest nemesis, Yeltsin, was voted in as president of the new Russia December 1991 and made a horrible mess of the next nine years. The 1990’s were devastating years for the whole population except for the young oligarchs. Yeltsin left office a sick and excessive man and Gorbachev has lived out his life as a figure respected by most Americans and disrespected by most Russians … which must be heart-breaking for him. He has my deep respect for trying to be retrospective throughout these ensuing years and for still having passion for today’s Russia and the world.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia
Gorbachev’s Essay Reflecting on Perestroika;
Paul Robinson on “Who Destroyed the USSR?”
August 12, 2021
By Natylie Baldwin
As this months marks the 30th anniversary of the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August of 1991, Gorbachev has published a long essay on his policy of perestroika (reform) in the journal Russia in Global Affairs. You can read it in English here. As some readers may be aware. unlike in the west, Gorbachev is not necessarily well-liked among Russians. Many consider his policies to have paved the way for the chaos of the 1990’s. In my conversations with Russians during my 2017 trip, in which I asked about their views of various Soviet leaders, most had either negative or indifferent views about him, while 2 or 3 expressed some degree of positive views.
Here is an interesting except from Gorbachev’s essay:
Initially, political reform was not our objective. I acknowledge that, at the time, I believed that the Party—the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—would be the vehicle of reform. For many years, it had been managing the country’s affairs; its representatives had vast administrative and political experience and held key positions in all areas of government and society. Therefore, the Party, particularly during the initial stage of perestroika, played an indispensable role. Plenary sessions of the Central Committee convened regularly, and all my reports were approved at Politburo meetings, often after sharp debate, which became increasingly contentious as tensions and differences of opinion came to the fore.
This was the drama of perestroika. Millions of Party members and many Party leaders in central bodies and local organizations supported new policies. But as I traveled and talked to people, I increasingly felt that the energy of change was hitting the wall erected by the Party and government bureaucracy—the nomenklatura.