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— Scott Allison and George Goethals
When I was a kid back in the 70s, I predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 21st Century. I feared the region would descend into chaos and local warfare, possibly including nuclear exchanges between former republics. Seeing Gorbachev peacefully dismantle the USSR was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life. Simply astonishing, and quite a relief for someone who grew up during the Cold War. And it was wonderful to see all the videos coming from Russia and the other former Soviet republics of all the new freedoms that the people were enjoying. Another example of how one man can change the world.
While I wasn’t alive to remember Mikhail Gorbachev’s time in office, there’s no doubt that he made a profound impact on the world at that time. Knowing full well when he took his position in the heart of the Cold War that he would be dealing with many outside forces against him, Gorbachev stuck to his beliefs and truly tried to form a “peaceful revolution” with his new ideas and reforms. While it was a shame that he was eventually forced out of office at the end of the Cold War and his achievements in office were quickly diminished, there’s no doubt that he was doing what he thought was best. While the Soviet Union is usually never put in a good light, Mikhail Gorbachev will always have some positive actions and advances associated with him.
I would put Gorbachev in the category of "tragic heroes," if there exists such a category. It was so unfortunate for Gorbachev that he had to take office during the time filled with huge economic and political turmoil in the Soviet Union. It was hard for Gorbachev to make changes to a system that was already overly corrupted and inefficient. His good intentions and tremendous efforts to reform the economy and ease the tensions with the West are ironically part of the reason for the fall of communism and Gorbachev being forced out of office. Perestroika (restructuring) was meant to reform the economy by introducing some market-based incentives into the economy, but it went against the pure ideals of communism and thus brought Gorbachev many enemies. Glasnost (openness) was meant to collect feedback from the people on how to improve the country and increase the legitimacy of the Communist Party, but unfortunately, it led to people criticizing the very nature of communism. Nonetheless, Gorbachev will always be seen as a hero for at least trying his best to do good for his country and his people.