Is Mikhail Gorbachev a hero, a villain, or neither?

It was not his goal to end the USSR. He did want and did introduce some reforms into the Soviet system and make it less oppressive. He also lessened the tensions with the West and offered more engagement. Gorbachev proposed reducing nuclear weapon... read more

It was not his goal to end the USSR. He did want and did introduce some reforms into the Soviet system and make it less oppressive. He also lessened the tensions with the West and offered more engagement. read more

Gorbachev was the youngest man to hold the position and the first born after 1917. A “reformer,” his appointment was a turning point in the ruling bureaucracy’s attack on the property relations established by the October Revolution. read more

Gorbachev is no hero. He opened up the Soviet Union a little bit through perestroika (openness) in a desperate attempt to keep an unsustainable system from collapsing. read more