Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Russian politician. He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991.
Gorbachev's attempts at reform鈥攑erestroika and glasnost鈥攁s well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan, contributed to the end of the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. At the time of his death Gorbachev served as the leader of the Union of Social-Democrats, a political party founded after the official dissolution of the Social Democratic Party of Russia on 20 October 2007.
Aus aktuellem Anlass der Ukraine Krise und um das polarisierende Schimpfwort 鈥濸utinversteher鈥� nicht nur als leere Worth眉lse zu betrachten, sondern wirklich zu versuchen, Putin zu verstehen, habe ich mir vorgenommen, heuer ein paar aktuelle B眉cher 眉ber Russland zu lesen.
Dabei habe ich als erstes die Analyse des neuen Russlands von Michail Gorbatschow ausgew盲hlt. Mir erschien es eine perfekte Wahl, denn er steht seit jeher Putin sowohl wohlwollend als auch kritisch gegen眉ber.
Leider habe ich dummerweise nicht ber眉cksichtigt, dass Gorbatschow weder pointierter Analyst historischer und politischer Vorg盲nge noch ein Journalist oder Autor ist, der das Schreiben von der Pike auf gelernt hat. Im Gegenteil, er ist und bleibt auch bis jetzt Politiker, der sehr diplomatisch mit blumigen Beschreibungen rechtfertigend das Zeitgeschehen kommentiert.
Diese Rechtfertigungen der eigenen Politik und Taten sind im ersten Abschnitt des Buches von 1989- 1999 sehr m眉hsam und f眉r mich absolut nicht notwendig. Von meinem Standpunkt aus braucht seine Idee und Umsetzung von Glasnost und Perestroika nicht verteidigt werden.
Ab dem zweiten Abschnitt 眉ber Putin wird es zwar in der russischen Innenpolitik wirklich sehr spannend, aber Gorbataschow wiederholt sich massiv in seinen zentralen Argumenten und leiert diese immer wieder gebetsm眉hlenartig herunter. Da h盲tte ein Lektor mehr in das Werk eingreifen m眉ssen.
Im dritten Abschnitt, den modernen Zeiten und aktuellen Konflikten, beh眉bscht Gorbatschow sehr diplomatisch die aktuelle Situation, nur um die aktuelle Regierung ja nicht zu sehr zu kritisieren. Er dr眉ckt sich vor klaren Aussagen und schreibt teilweise haneb眉chenen Unsinn z.B. 眉ber Syrien, der bereits 3 Wochen nach Auslieferung des Buches obsolet ist, aber schon vor einem halben Jahr absehbar war. Was hat er sich 眉berhaupt dabei gedacht, den Konflikt in Syrien auf 2,5 Seiten abzuhandeln? Da h盲tte er es gleich bleiben lassen k枚nnen. Auch um den Ukrainekonflikt eiert er herum 鈥� mir ist die Situation aus russischer Sicht nach der Lekt眉re dieses Werkes nicht um ein Jota klarer geworden.
Bei aller Kritik habe ich dennoch sehr viel Neues aus der Innenpolitik Russlands erfahren: Wie werden Politiker gemacht, wie ist die neureiche Post-Perestroika-Clique wirklich zu ihrem sagenhaften Reichtum gekommen, wie funktioniert(e) die Duma, die politischen Prozesse 鈥�.. Das war spannend und sehr informativ.
2,5 Sterne wohlwollend aufgerundet
Fazit: Mehr distanzierte Analyse anstatt rechtfertigendes Involvement und diplomatische Worth眉lsen w盲ren von N枚ten gewesen. Dies kann aber nur durch einen eigenst盲ndigen externen Autor, der Aussagen selbst盲ndig zusammenfasst, verwirklicht werden. Da h盲tte sich Gorbatschow mal an all den der Rechtschreibung nicht f盲higen B-und C Promis ein Beispiel nehmen sollen, die sich biografische B眉cher teilweise in sehr guter Qualit盲t haben schreiben lassen. Er hat ja sehr viel Spannendes zu sagen, aber in dem Fall schafft das Selbermachen der Analyse zu wenig Distanz zum Thema.
Just because someone has been 鈥� or indeed still is 鈥� a renowned statesman and important figure on the world stage, doesn鈥檛 mean he or she can necessarily write an enjoyable and enlightening memoir. And sadly Gorbachev, however intrinsically interesting his life, work and thoughts have been, and however much of relevance he might still have to say, hasn鈥檛 here managed to give us a gripping narrative. The book covers the 25 years after he lost power to Yeltsin 鈥� a man whom, perhaps unsurprisingly he doesn鈥檛 much like - and is somewhat rambling, garrulous and long-winded. It鈥檚 also self-serving and self-righteous, which makes for some uncomfortable reading. He鈥檚 happy to quote anyone who has praised him or sent him messages of support, but less happy trying to give a balanced view of the changes he made to Russia and indeed the world. And yet I felt he was being sincere in what he wrote and there seems to be a certain integrity in what he says. He admits to admiring Putin at first, for example, even though he now feels differently. I can鈥檛 say I enjoyed the memoir but it鈥檚 worth reading to get a clearer understanding of a man, who will always be remembered as the Russian leader who ended the Cold War.
Eigentlich bin ich ziemlich entt盲uscht. Mit seinem Schreibstiel versucht Herr Gorbachev niemanden zu beleidigen oder zu konfrontieren. Dadurch wirkt das ganze Buch blass, vers枚hnlich und zur眉ckhaltend. Das chronologische aufz盲hlen der Ereignisse gen眉gt mir nicht, ich vermisse Seinen kritischen Standpunkt, so wie wir Ihn als Staatsmann aus einer schwierigen Zeitgeschichte her kennen.
I personally expected more analysis and in-depth approach about the current political and economic trends in Russia. There are some interesting aspects outlined - as, for instance, the author's opinions on Chechnya - but there are also too many pages dedicated to letters from supporters and other correspondence which does not bring too much knowledge. Probably because the author is such an important personality of the last century it does not matter too much, and if you have enough patience to go through the anecdotal aspects there are still interesting layers left. A must read though for anyone curious about Russian politics before and after Putin. Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
This book shows Gorbachev as someone who set Russia on the road to being accepted on the world's political stage. He advocated dialogue as a first response. Shame it has not carried on under today's leadership. I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Polity via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
People have different assessments of Gorbachev. For the West, he was a reformer who brought the Cold War to a peaceful end. For Russia, he is hated with people blaming him for the breakup of USSR and instability. In China, Deng Xiaoping reportedly once called him "stupid" for placing political reforms over the economy.
Regardless of whatever people think of him, reading this book makes you understand that he wants a better future for Russia. For him, in order for Russia to succeed, it needs a reform of its political and bureaucratic overload which has hindered innovation in the country and brought stagnation in favor of so-called stability. Gorbachev is, or was, deeply influenced by the thoughts of Lenin. Change needs to be done to help Russia. However, it was not the way it turned out to be. As he looked upon reforming the USSR to a looser union, hard-line generals organized a botched coup against him, instead signalling doom to the USSR.
It is evident in this book that what happened after Gorbachev left the Kremlin has not been what he had expected. Yeltsin, his old rival, brought Russia to a steep decline with social and economic problems, dragging a war in Chechnya while sending tanks to dissolve modern Russia's first parliament. The Putin era, for Gorbachev, despite bringing stability and economic growth at first, turned out to stagnate with reduced political freedoms and a dying civil society. However, Gorbachev not only directed his blame at the post-Soviet Russian leadership. For him, the West was also at fault for bringing Russia to become the revanchist power it is today. For him, Russia has given many concessions in hope of bringing a better type of relations with the West, but instead found itself isolated with NATO expansion and Western critics over Russian actions in Chechnya and Georgia. Gorbachev sees collaboration and dialogue as the way to solve Russia-West relations, including in the Ukraine issue.
While I don't completely agree with Gorbachev's political views expressed in this book, this still provides an alternative excellent view of post-Soviet Russia, written by the man who lived through it. The ideas of "perestroika", regardless of how futile it seems nowadays, is still a thought to be looked upon.
Now, with a full-scale war happening in Ukraine, Russia-West ties hitting rock bottom, as well as cancel culture against Russians being promoted in various policy spheres, I can't imagine how tough it must be for Gorbachev, who lives to very old age to see this tragic stuff happening. Hopefully, in midst of rumours of his declining health, he could still hand out his voice to the world about the way forward for Russia, the West and the world. Instead of isolating Russia, the world should look for a path of cooperation and engagement to solve the current common global challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, etc.
A must read for everyone interested in Russia and post-Cold War history in general.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants an honest assessment of what's happening in Russia today from the perspective, and in the words of, the man who heroically changed the course of Soviet history as president. Having read his Memoirs, Mikhail Gorbachev brings the reader up to date in this book (published 2016) with an overview of the current political situation in Russia as well as its relationships with Europe, America, the Far East and hot spots like Syria and the Middle East. Also included are letters of support that Mikhail Gorbachev received in recent years from those who wanted to document the impact his life has had on their lives. This was an especially touching aspect of the book as I, too, share that same appreciation and personal gratitude for the immense vision and sacrifice he made in the years when he was President. I personally met family I never knew existed because his policies allowed Ukrainians to travel abroad for the first time in 1989. One letter writer could not finish his letter without admitting his tears were flowing as he wrote regarding his deep personal gratitude in allowing his family to emigrate. We hear a lot of people talk about the "right side of history" and many have done whatever they could to shut him down. But I believe Mikhail Gorbachev is firmly on the right side of history and I appreciate that he has devoted his post presidency to writing and supporting his foundation. He has never given up on giving back to humanity the sincere love he has for man and nature. He is my hero!
I picked up this book since I was curious how Gorbachev saw the recent political developments in Russia. Considering all the blistering criticism I鈥檝e read of Putin it was interesting to see Gorbachev give a more nuanced review of Putin鈥檚 conduct. Gorbachev starts off from when he resigned in 1991 and faults Yeltsin quite harshly for the environment in which Putin took office. While he acknowledges the challenges Putin inherited, he readily points out how different the situation was by his second term as well as his vehement disagreement with Putin鈥檚 decision to run for a third term in 2012. It was also a little baffling to see him criticize the Duma even after he recognized that the elections where they were elected were not free but managed by the Kremlin. While the book had some odd inclusions, like dozens of letters from Russian citizens agreeing with Gorbachev鈥檚 position, and exclusions, no real discussion of Putin鈥檚 invasion of Crimea nor the brutal assassinations of Putin鈥檚 critics, the book still presented the reader an intelligent, if optimistic, view of the political situation within Russia by someone intimately familiar with the levers of power in Russia.
This book is one excellent argument of why there should be no nuclear arsenal.
In here, Gorbi talks about his smarts and his God given mission to Humanity. His plan was perfect and yet another human being could pervert it so much. How was this possible? It's a mystery.
The interesting part is the prophetic aspect. Not one time the thought of "maybe it was the context" passes through the mind of the great white male. It did not happen during the tsars. It did not happen later during the Stalin's rule, it did not happen during Khrushchev's rule simply because the God's sent wasn't yet an adult with the right to vote and be voted into office.
Heck, Gorbi does not even have the mind to realize there was no Revolution in Russia and that the putsch seems to be still Russia's favorite way of changing the tsars while the Secret Police grows and grows. Sure, the mujiks now have smart phones and at the Weddings they play different songs, but not always.
Not a terrific literary book, but worth a read if you have not read Gorbachev. The most interesting chapter was the short last one discussing his early memories. The book is mostly a justification of many of his globalist ideas. Worthwhile certainly to students of Russia and the USSR.