Gorbachev: History Will Be a Fairer Judge

[nightcrawler]

DefenceDog: Gorbachev: History Will Be a Fairer Judge
Abstracts from the full article:

• For a few hours, the narrative that Putin had saved Russia by rejecting Yeltsin’s “evil 1990s” was dropped; projecting a more civilized image was instead the order of the day. However, the very fact that Yeltsin’s anniversary was turned into a Kremlin-choreographed ballet—with Putin in the solo role preaching on “the ideals of freedom and democracy”—only reinforces doubts about the democratic legacy of Russia’s first president.
• All are leaders who in decisive moments determined the course of their countries’ history. But only one leader—Gorbachev—determined the long-term history of the global order. What did he actually do? He concluded that force is dangerous as a means of doing politics, both domestically and internationally, particularly when nuclear weapons are at play.
• First, Gorbachev recognized that the arms race was condemned to failure and that nuclear war was pointless. It was Gorbachev who came up with the idea of a “nuclear-free world” as early as 1986, well before President Obama. Gorbachev’s second major breakthrough was his conviction that every nation is entitled to the freedom of choice
• Gorbachev was the man who launched the avalanche. He was destined to become the leader who dismantled a bellicose civilization—global communism. And it has to be noted that he did it at a time when this civilization seemed likely to live on, fight, or rot indefinitely. Or indeed, it was just as likely to end its life in mad convulsions.
• His “New Thinking” resulted in the Soviet-U.S. dialogue on nuclear disarmament and the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987. Two opposing parties decided to destroy an entire range of nuclear arms capable of unleashing an apocalypse at any time. He then proceeded to negotiate the reductions of strategic offensive weapons and conventional arms, and the ban on chemical, bacteriological, and biological weapons.
• But Gorbachev decided to voluntarily break with the Soviet paradigm of survival at the expense of keeping up the nuclear threat
• by loosening the iron hoop that had held the Soviet empire together, and by rejecting the “besieged fortress” ideology, he inevitably brought about a dismantling of the empire
• he must have realized everything, and must have understood the dilemma he was facing: the USSR could be preserved only at the expense of immense bloodshed. And he was not prepared to go there. Gorbachev destroyed the Soviet leader within himself well before the decline of the Soviet state.
• Joseph Schumpeter coined the term “creative destruction,” i.e., one that prepares the foundations for constructive development. This is precisely what Gorbachev did by becoming the great “creative destroyer.”
• for the first time in Russian history, the head of the regime communicated directly with the nation, even though initially he was astonished and visibly irritated by the consequences of his own doing—the relentless criticism and attacks
• Seeking a democratic mandate for president of the Soviet Union at a time when the Soviet empire was beginning to crumble would only have made this process more painful and would have most likely resulted in bloodshed.
• But he passed the basic test—he refused to use force in Moscow. And that was a decisive blow to the totalitarian logic. But what could possibly justify the Chechen war waged by Yeltsin, the man who followed a democratic logic?
• Gorbachev experienced profound personal grief when he lost the person dearest to him—his wife and companion Raisa. And at some point, it was this human grief that brought Gorbachev closer to Russia: by understanding the suffering of Gorbachev the man, people started to realize the significance of Gorbachev the politician.He has not left Russia even though any Western country would be honored to make Gorbachev its honorary citizen, offering him a far more comfortable life than the one he leads in Russia. Gorbachev has nothing to fear and nothing to be ashamed of. He has no need to hide or to hide anything.