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From the Western point of view, Mikhail Gorbachev went down in history as one of the most important figures in international politics of the 20th century for being one of the architects of the end of the Cold War and the latent nuclear tension between the US and the then Soviet Union. But in Russia, his country, he is seen as the cause of the dissolution of the USSR and the economic and political crisis that followed the collapse of the Union. Gorbachev: hero or traitor? We analyze it in our program.
Gorbachev proposed reforms and the need for a change for the Soviet Union, so that it could continue as a competitive power in an increasingly interconnected world where the values of individuals took on more weight.
The former Soviet leader was born in 1931 into a peasant family, climbed to the top of the Soviet Union and from there witnessed its collapse and disappearance. He came to power in 1985, initiated an unprecedented dialogue with the United States, with which he signed a bilateral treaty to reduce nuclear weapons.
In 1990, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for the change he urged in relations with the West. In August 1991, the former Soviet leader resisted a coup attempt by the most conservative members of the government. Under pressure, he resigned from office and the Soviet Union disappeared, giving rise to 15 independent republics.
Why does Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy generate so many discrepancies? Is Russia ready to understand such a legacy? Was Gorbachev’s mistake to strengthen the role of the individual over the power of the State? How will the West remember him? We analyze it in this edition of El Debate together with our guests:
– Claudio Ingerflom, specialist in Russian political and social history; director of the Bachelor’s in History and the Master’s in Conceptual History at the Universidad Nacional San Martín.
– Manolo González Moscote, international political analyst and journalist. He was a correspondent in Moscow for many years and had the opportunity to interview Mikhail Gorbachev on different occasions.
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