Russia (TIP): Mikhail Gorbachev, the man whose attempt at reforming the Soviet system spun out of control with tragic consequences for the communism-socialism movements all over the world, died in Moscow after a long illness. He was 91. In six tumultuous years in power as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Gorbhachev presided over landmark events, from the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, a coup attempt and finally the chaotic disintegration of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states whose reverberations we feel today in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) were the catch words for the Communists the world over. As Cuban leader Fidel Castro was to warn in early 1988, neither concept ended well for them. Born in a peasant family as most Soviet politicians, he initially drove combine harvesters for a living. We will never get to know the qualities that made him a member of the Politburo at 48 though he is credited with overseeing a major irrigation project as a regional party boss. Opportunism may have been one of them in the unremitting struggle for power in the corridors of the Kremlin.

Gorbachev saw an opportunity of a lifetime when Konstantin Chernenko died. He moved quickly to convene a Politburo meeting while two supporters of his opponent were not in Moscow. When a tie emerged among the available members, Gorbachev voted in his favour as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Journalist Vladimir Pozner in his account of the unravelling of the Soviet Union writes: “American conservatives love to take credit. What a self-indulging understanding of history. One vote, one single change, would have changed the world. There would have been no Gorbachev as head of USSR!” But Gorbachev did become the top leader of the Soviet Union when Soviet-US ties were at their nadir. It is reckoned that the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was when he was convinced that things had to change in the Soviet Union. Contrary to popular impression, he did make one last effort to pull back matters from the brink. (TNS)