Twenty five years ago today, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev`s term in office was later dubbed as perestroika (restructuring). That was the time of changes in both home and foreign policies. Gorbachev named glasnost (openness) and democratization as priorities. He initiated the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan, and also spoke out for the end of the Cold War and reunion in Germany.
However, as the President of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev failed to prevent a serious economic crisis which hit the country in late 1980s. People faced shortages of essential consumer goods. Regarding the political situation in the country, it did not inspire optimism either. The political system was chaotic, and all attempts to keep it afloat were in vain. At the end of 1991 the Soviet Union vanished from the world map as a union state. Mr. Georgy Satarov, President of the Informatics for Democracy foundation, thinks that was quite a logical outcome:
"Gorbachev`s policies were originally viewed as an attempt to save the Soviet regime. But then the flywheel of history was put in action, and nobody, even Gorbachev himself, was able to stop it".
But Gorbachev`s term in office is also viewed differently by some experts, who blame him for disarming the country, withdrawing the Soviet troops from former socialist countries, approving Germany's accession in NATO. Still, Mikhail Gorbachev has become a historic figure for his policies had changed a lot in Russia and worldwide.
He understood the main thing- the country could no longer develop according to the rules the Soviet Union had been developing for ages.
Mr. Gorbachev thinks the ideals of perestroika are still relevant in today's Russia. And what is more, new efforts should be made to continue democratization, otherwise Russia's ambitious economic plans will hardly be implemented.
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