Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev; born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved. He served as the country's head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only General Secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born after the October...
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth2 March 1931
CityPrivolnoye, Russia
race command-and-control decision
We could still have continued the arms race, but the arms race was pointless, and it was another reason we decided to start perestroika. It was senseless to continue to accumulate weapons. We had enough weapons to destroy life on Earth 1,000 times, and therefore it was very clear to us that the arms race could spiral out of control. A conflict could have started, as both the Americans and the Soviets realized, not out of a wrong political decision but because of a failure in the command-and-control systems.
perfection people achievement
Now that we are rid of this syndrome of imposing the communist model on people, now that we've given them the chance to get rid of this dogma, I have to tell you Americans that you've been pushing your American way of life for decades. You thought it was perfection itself, the ultimate achievement of human thought... There has to be a different approach... Americans have to be more modest in their desires. We have to stimulate human qualities in people rather than greed.
museums people blame
If people don't like Marxism, they should blame the British Museum.
needs lexicon fundamentals
If the Russian word " perestroika " has easily entered the international lexicon, this is due to more than just interest in what is going on in the Soviet Union. Now the whole world needs restructuring, i.e. progressive development, a fundamental change.
war america president
Every US President has to have a war.
ideas government synthesis
In our discussions here at the forum there was no trace of the futile debate about what is better, capitalism or socialism...We should seek a synthesis of ideas and values that have proven their viability...
creativity political management
Without glasnost there is not, and there cannot be, democratism, the political creativity of the masses and their participation in management.
country money moving
We are beginning to see practical support. And this is a very significant sign of the movement towards a new era, a new age.... We see both in our country and elsewhere... ghosts of the old thinking.... When we rid ourselves of their presence, we will be better able to move toward a new world order...relying on the relevent mechanisms of the United Nations.
two giving earth
Surely, God on high has not refused to give us enough wisdom to find ways to bring us an improvement in relations between the two great nations on earth.
democracy socialism mass
In effect, according to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible. By gaining democratic freedoms the working masses come to power.
people world lessons
Please remember one lesson of the 20th century. One cannot force happiness, impose happiness on nations by imposing any kind of utopia on others. The Communist model of society was a kind of imposed utopia for which the Russian people in particular paid a great price. Still, sometimes we see that attempts are being made to impose some other kind of model on the entire world - maybe a Westernized or Americanized model... This is not the way to go because this can only create conflict.
talking creating world
What we're talking about is creating new forms of life on the basis of new values.
reality nuclear firsts
For the first time ever, we have confronted in reality the sinister power of uncontrolled nuclear energy.
war poor-quality achievement
Our rockets can find Halley's comet, and fly to Venus with amazing accuracy, but side by side with these scientific and technical triumphs is an obvious lack of efficiency in using scientific achievements for economic needs... many Soviet household appliances are of poor quality.