Mikhail Gorbachev, last Soviet leader, dead at 91

He was also championed in the West for spearheading reforms to achieve transparency and greater public discussion that hastened the breakup of the Soviet empire.

It is rare that a leader of a superpower recognizes the abuses and weaknesses of their system and attempts to radically remedy them.

His intentions were noble but unfortunately led to the crony capitalist looting of Soviet infrastructure and resources and the rise of oligarchs like Putin.

He did more than Zelensky,and Zelensky lived under his rule

RIP

He was a far, far better man than Putin.

Gorbachev was regarded fondly in the West, where he was affectionately referred to by the nickname Gorby and best known for defusing U.S.-Soviet nuclear tensions in the 1980s as well as bringing Eastern Europe out from behind the Iron Curtain.

It's interesting to note that one of the main factors that brought an end to the the Soviet regime was a long costly war in Afghanistan. And guess what. Russia is in a potentially long and costly war in Ukraine. When will they learn?

A good and honorable leader and man. He made mistakes but history has and will judge him to be one of the great political figures of the 20th century.

He is the only leader I can think of to oversee the dismantling of a major world empire without a war.

t's interesting to note that one of the main factors that brought an end to the the Soviet regime was a long costly war in Afghanistan. And guess what. Russia is in a potentially long and costly war in Ukraine. When will they learn?

The last Tsar was brought down by their defeat at the hands of Japan and then against Germany in WWI.

Gorbachev was unable to transform the Soviet Union into a democratic country.

Last leader of the former USSR, but a better leader and true Russian statesman!

Desert Tortoise

The last Tsar was brought down by their defeat at the hands of Japan and then against Germany in WWI.

True! A real pattern is forming here.

Mikhail Gorbachev told Putin to end his war in Ukraine.

How Gorbachev’s political legacy was destroyed by Putin

Era of detente and arms control between Washington and Moscow has been replaced by a bloody war in Ukraine

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/30/gorbachev-political-legacy-destroyed-by-putin

For Putin and many Russians, the breakup of the Soviet Union was a tragedy.

Many Russians still look back fondly to the Soviet period.

Not just the Russians. 

The fall of the Soviet Union might have been celebrated in the West, but in my country the feeling was like a dear old friend had passed away.

At home, Gorbachev remained a controversial figure

This is an understatement. Russians who own guns use his portrait for target practice.

Gorbachev is a legend. Russia should learn from him.

I remember at the 1984 State of the Union address when Reagan said that a nuclear war is unwinnable and must never be fought. He said he wanted to talk with the Soviets. Reelection gimmick or not, he followed up on it after the mysterious death of Yuri Andropov. Reagan and Gorby were talking with 'glasnost'. We can talk about the other things Reagan did and didn't do but he AND Gorbachev worked together to finally resolve the Cold War peacefully, and by late 1989 it was OVER. It was a momentous and historical moment of my life that I cherish very fondly. I was in the military during part of the 80s and it was so wonderful to see that we'd have no nuclear Armageddon! Of course I wasn't so naive to think that there were be no more war. The unrelated Panama War of 1989-1990 broke out and Liberia broke out in a UGLY civil war that lasted for years. Nonetheless.....

So many changes were going on in eastern Europe thanks to Gorbachev. Remember that Moscow Peace Festival during the summer of '89? A French astronaut guested on a USSR space flight and brought 2 Pink Floyd tapes to play in orbit and the band saw the launch and were invited to tour the USSR, which they did! That's when i knew a change had come. And Metallica played Moscow and the crowd went bonkers, saw it on TV. Then the USSR was coming apart because the various ethnicities (and republics) wanted to be culturally free from the 'Russification' the Communists put on them. After the failed 1991 coup, Gorbachev wanted a democratic USSR but these guys had other ideas. Well, he tried. Sad to say, most of these former Soviet republics are totalitarian dictatorships themselves run by personality cult buttheads. And the uninitiated in America have learned ZERO from those times.

Many of my fellow college students from that area regard Reagan and Gorbachev both as heroes. I am glad to have witnessed that historical moment and am proud to have served during that time. Unfortunately, wars have become entertainment for the American people since then, it's just 'yippy-yi-yay!'. It's SICK. And who would've guessed we'd have a WH occupant who'd claim the 'agreement was over' when he actually was a satellite of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. How the USA has truly reached its NADIR during the trump dictatorship reign of terror. I never thought the US itself would ever sink so low but it HAS!

But I remember when Reagan (and Bush 43) WORKED and ironed things out with Gorbachev and it was a turning point in the history of the planet Earth.

RIP MIKHAIL GORBACHEV. A true icon and hero in history, even if he had no intention to become one.

RodneyToday  11:40 am JST

Will there be a state funeral will Biden attending?

Funerals for foreign heads of state are usually attended by ex-Presidents of the US and/or Congressmen.

Count on W Bush and Obama going to it, and maybe Jimmy Carter if he's physically up to it. Nobody likes the uncouth sassymouth traitor trump, however. You don't invite narcisstic clods like him to such events and besides, he would probably use the occasion to DEFECT to Russia to escape justice. After all, he is a traitor.

Condolences to the survivors of Mr. Gorbachev, who will always be remembered for his policies of Perestroika, and Glasnost, which brought about reform and openness to the Eastern bloc countries . . . .

Ungrateful Ukraine have not mentioned his death

Mikhail Gorbachev, last Soviet leader, dead at 91

RIP. Gorbi must be dismayed seeing what happened to his agreement with Baker ("NATO will not expand 1 meter into Eastern Europe"). And he trusted these liars.

RIP. Gorbi must be dismayed seeing what happened to his agreement with Baker ("NATO will not expand 1 meter into Eastern Europe"). And he trusted these liars.

Yeah, funny how that wasn't written down anywhere, you know like on a treaty or something. Perhaps signed by officials with documents exchanged, and in the United States, ratified by the Senate.

On the other hand, the Budapest Memorandum, which actually does exist, committed the Russians to give security guarantees to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal (at the time the 3rd largest in the world.) Ukraine kept its part of the deal. The Russians? Not so much.

Also, I don't see how the Soviet Union, which doesn't even exist anymore, and the United States can form a binding agreement on a 3rd party nation like (pick any of the later NATO countries) or Ukraine for that matter, from forming an alliance with a voluntary self-defense pact (unlike the Warsaw Pact which was most certainly not voluntary. Just ask Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia.)

Explain that one to me. How is it that the United States, constantly and repeatedly reviled for interfering in the decisions of sovereign nations, can impose an unwritten, unratified agreement on 3rd parties?

Oh, it can't. So there is that.

Putin blamed Gorbachev for the down fall of the Soviet Union which Putin wants to restore.

Respectful farewell to Gorby. Perestroika and Glasnost initiator Mr. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a distinguished world leader.

I remember when Reagan met Gorby in Iceland ready to talk nuke reductions and Gorby started talking Nuke elimination.

Regan wasn't ready for that and perhaps it was a bridge too far and too early.

To be fair to Regan, The US had umbrella responsibilites and at that time, the Warsaw Pact/Soviet Union was percieved by many (including myself) to have an overwhelming edge in conventional forces - basically a complete reversal from the current situation.

So there was some worry that Reagan was getting played. And there just was not enough trust in the Soviet Union's intentions - a well-founded mistrust if I may speak from someone who experienced it as a teen - to take Gorby's hand and overlook the basic tenants of past Soviet Expansionist Doctrine (Again, at the time we did not, at least I did not, know they were in the state they were.)

But the offer was made and it reset what was thought possible in US-Soviet relations.

But I will always remember Gorbachev fondly as a man of good will. Probably 10-15 years too late to reform the Soviet System which probably had one chance after Stalin with Khrushchev to regain the good will of it's people and blew it.

Still, Gorbachev did his best and like Big Yen, I hope that eventually he will be remembered for the statesman he was.

His ineptitude, his deeds had caused social, demographic and economic disaster more than WW2.

Apropos. Keeping for years ignorant, biased and politically motivated moderator(s) is a disgrace for any public media declared as free.