Ode to Mikhail Gorbachev, By Chris Adetayo
The first half of the 20th century was filled with wars (including 2 world wars) and economic strife (the Great Depression being one of many). It was 50 years of discord and disharmony for the world.
Consequential leaders abound from that era, most of them focused on conquest and expansion, rather than peace and development. The list is long, from Lenin to Stalin to Hitler to Mussolini to Roosevelt to Churchill.
Through their individual and collective actions, they bequeathed a world that, in the latter half of the century, was divided right down the middle, with countries always on edge and constantly looking over each others’ shoulders. So while there were Hot Wars in the first half, the Cold War dominated the second half. While the first half was filled with discord and disharmony, the second half was of distrust and discomfort.
Then came Mikhail Gorbachev. After a slew of geriatric leaders of the USSR died in quick succession, he took the reins of power at a relatively young age of 53. He then proceeded to make changes in the workings of his country. He strived for more openness (glasnost) and pushed for the reconstruction (perestroika) of a large empire that was heavy and overburdened by decades of armament.
In time, his policies at home, and rapprochement with the West away, brought an end to the Cold War and the Iron Curtain that had divided the people of Europe for nearly 50 years. It also ended, sadly for him, the empire that he had reigned over, as the USSR dissolved into its federating units.
While today’s Russia seeks to roll back the changes he wrought, and we are back to the era of mutual suspicion and distrust between the West and “East” (however loosely defined), we have much to thank Gorbachev for the global transformation, peace and development that most of the world has enjoyed since the early 1990s.
He has left us now. But history will remember him as arguably the most consequential leader of the second half of the 20th century.
May he Rest In Peace!
