Former Soviet president MikhailGorbachev, a man students read about in textbooks, spoke as aparticipant of the celebrity forum at the Flint Center onWednesday, Oct. 13. Michael Reagan, adopted son of the latePresident Ronald Reagan and an acquaintance of Gorbachev for 20years, interviewed him about the powerful relationship between thetwo presidents who ended the Cold War.
As the leader of the Soviet Union from1985 to 1991, Gorbachev is known for promoting democracy in hiscountry and revising the oppressive system he inherited, makingefforts to establish affable international relations and working toreduce nuclear weapons. Two policies associated with his name are”perestroika,” (restructuring) which aimed to improve the Sovieteconomy and encourage technology, and “glasnost,” (openness) whichincluded free speech for Soviet citizens. Gorbachev’s influencereached outside the borders of the Soviet Union as people inEastern European countries demanded more freedom and an end to therule of Communist parties. In 1990, Gorbachev received a NobelPeace Prize. Now residing in Moscow, he works with theorganizations he founded. Most notably he is president of theInternational Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies(The Gorbachev Foundation) and Green Cross International, anenvironmental program.
Gorbachev and Reagan sat across fromeach other at a low table in a living room-like setting with aRussian interpreter seated behind them. They began the discourse byspeaking of Gorbachev’s attendance at Reagan’s funeral. Gorbachevsaid that he took Reagan’s illness and death very hard. They becamefriends while working together to end the U.S./Soviet nuclear armsrace, but the relationship was not immediately friendly. When askedabout their first impression of each other, Gorbachev said Reaganwas “a real dinosaur” and Reagan said Gorbachev was a “Die-hardBolshevik.”
The interview continued with sharedmemories. Reagan said that his father grew up as poor child inIllinois, and Gorbachev said that he grew up as a peasant in a”very far away place.” There was one radio for the whole village,and he would read the newspaper to women who had husbands on thefront lines in the war. Gorbachev’s first political position was asan officer in his school, where he ran against several othercandidates. He stood up to give a speech, but what he rememberedwas that when he sat down, the chair was pulled out from under him.To audience applause, he said he knew how to fall and “after youfall, you just pick up and go.”
Gorbachev later became a member of theCommunist party. His attitude towards Stalin was shaped by the factthat they won the war, believing that Stalin lead them to victory.In school he wrote an essay called “Stalin is our military glory”which earned him an “A” mark. He had a “complicated relationship”with Stalin. When he was in power he worked to get rid of Stalin’stotalitarian system. He said Stalin was a “brutal person” who wouldoverstep people’s lives to achieve political goals, and said thatGorbachev’s own maternal grandfather was sentenced to death, thoughhe escaped exectution.
Gorbachev said it was “never hisintention to become the big boss,” unlike other people for whompower is a consuming passion, and “for them nothing else exists.”He believed that power was not all-important, for if he did, hewould not have started any reforms where he delegated power toother people and republics. He said that perestroika was about ademocratic and free society and that a government that did notconsult the people was bound to be inadequte.
In his 50s, Gorbachev was the SovietUnion’s youngest leader; the average age of secretary generals was72. “Why did they chose you?” Reagan asked. Already havingexperience as a sort of governor, Gorbachev said that that in thesecircumstances the country wanted a younger leader and needed “freshthought.” Gorbachev said, “I never have known of any dramaticrevolution to be smooth.” Even when he saw resistance in his ownteam, he said “by all means, avoid bloodshed.”
Reagan recalled the time his fatherstood in front of the Berlin Wall and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, if youreally mean what you say, tear down this wall.” In 1989, the BerlinWall came down, and “the world became a better place because ofit,” Regan said. Free elections were held in Eastern Europe and theGermans could decide what kind of country they wanted to live in.With regard to the other players in world history at the time,including those from Great Britain and China, Gorbachev said,”History was lucky that at this watershed moment in the 1990s thatthe people in charge were able to effect processes in Europe andthe world.” He talked about the collective leadership and said thatneither he or Reagan could have saved the world single-handedly. Inaddressing what seemed like an impossible task, he mentioned beinga moral person of consciousness and having a Christian morality tobase work from. He spoke of the Russian proverb about believing inGod but acting for yourself. “God gave us wisdom and intellect,what else do we need?,” he said.
At the end of the dialogue, the floorwas opened to the audience for half an hour of questions. The firstquestion, which elicited a murmur from the audience, was aboutwhether the United States’ action in Iraq would lead to peace.Gorbachev said that he advised President Bush not to go all the wayto Baghdad, and to plan an exit strategy.He said that all areinterested in bringing peace and stability in that region, and thatreligious conflict should be avoided. The night ended by Gorbachevsaying he wanted the U.S. – Russian relationship to be even warmer,and to nurture and build the relationship.
