20 key dates from the Gorbachev era

Reagan and Gorbachev | Journal

The announcement the death of Mikhail Gorbachev brought back a lot of memories for me. I was born during the Cold War, and until the fall of the Soviet Union, the showdown between the two blocs was the common thread of most conflicts on the planet. A time marked by the sometimes buried fear of a nuclear confrontation.

The director of the National Security Archives, Thomas S. Blandon, once called the end of the Cold War a minor miracle. All too often committed to American closeness, Ronald Reagan gets more than enough praise here for ending an era of tension, but also for dismantling the Soviet Union.

A wise Reagan

It is true that Reagan knew how to adapt to the changes emanating from the USSR. Having raised his voice and exploited rhetoric – Star Wars or Evil Empire – that was at odds with the détente of the Carter presidency, the Republican had the wisdom to encourage diplomacy at the right time.

Historians and former Reagan advisers still debate the importance of the American’s show of power during his first term in office, but they almost unanimously stress the relevance of his openness to Gorbachev, whom he will meet at four summits between 1985 and 1988.

Ronald Reagan did not fail to encourage and challenge the Russian leader to press ahead with his reforms. Who has forgotten his famous declaration of June 12, 1987 at the Berlin Wall: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Abandoned reformist Gorbachev

In 2004, the last American ambassador to the USSR, Jack F. Matlock, published a book about the end of the Cold War entitled Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended. In the eyes of this historian and former diplomat, Gorbachev’s role deserves special mention. Without the latter, Reagan’s efforts would have been in vain and the course of events highly unpredictable.

Faced with a difficult economic situation, the young 54-year-old leader will shake up the communist hierarchy and reform the composition of the political office. Even if Gorbachev’s reforms had had limited effect, who knows what would have happened if it weren’t for his openness to the West, his search for a peaceful solution, and his refusal to use force to repress the nationalists of certain republics.

Of course, my perspective on Gorbachev’s death is that of a Westerner committed to democracy and freedom of expression. This democracy came at a significant price and one can understand the anger of the Russians who paid the price and wonder if the amount was not too high.

As Vladimir Putin completes the work of destroying Gorbachev’s legacy and Russian generals in Ukraine label the former leader a traitor, I can only regret that Russia didn’t know what to do with the freedom we were trying to give it.

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