There is an almost Shakespearean tragic quality about the late Soviet leader’s 1985-90 time in power, writes Tony Kevin. But Russian historians of the future may have reason to treat him kindly.
When Gorbachev’s Luck Ran Out
Tag: Mikhail Gorbachev
SCOTT RITTER: Mikhail Gorbachev, a Vector of Change
In ways that he never intended, the first and only president of the Soviet Union shaped world history.
Robert Scheer: Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev
Revisiting Robert Scheer’s 1987 Los Angeles Times review: “From Moscow, First Report of an Unprecedented Call for Change: The Gorbachev Manifesto.”
SCOTT RITTER: Sometimes Humanity Gets it Right
Disarmament in the time of Perestroika spotlights the pivotal contributions of U.S.-Soviet inspectors in helping to complete the 1988 INF treaty, which took effect after a period of bilateral tensions that could be considered more severe than those of today.
Is Nuclear Winter Coming?
Six scientists, including Carl Sagan, who proved nuclear war would produce “nuclear winter” were at first dismissed by the establishment. On Saturday they will receive an award as the world is the closest to nuclear war since 1962.
NATO & a War Foretold
Instead of exploiting this crisis to expand even further, Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davie say the military alliance should suspend all new or pending membership applications until the current crisis has been resolved.
Bush Admits US Broke Promise on NATO Expansion; Says Ukraine Should ‘Destroy as Many Russian Troops’ as Possible
A prankster has duped former U.S. President George W. Bush into admitting the U.S. violated its promise to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand NATO.
Chris Hedges: The Age of Self-Delusion
You can’t drain and impoverish the nation to feed an insatiable military machine unless you make its people afraid, even of phantoms.
DIANA JOHNSTONE: For Washington, War Never Ends
The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the rearmament of Germany confirmed that for the United States, the war in Europe was not entirely over. It still isn’t.
Chris Hedges: Chronicle of a War Foretold
After the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a near universal understanding among political leaders that NATO expansion would be a foolish provocation against Russia. The military-industrial complex would not allow such sanity to prevail.