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**Zarekylin75** · 03-15-2010, 06:08 PM

By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
Published: March 13, 2010

Op-Ed Contributor - Today’s Russia - Perestroika Lost - NYTimes.com

That was an extremely interesting column, mostly for what Gorbachev said (and didn't say) about himself. It's interesting to hear him admit and reflect on the degree to which he didn't understand the full implications of what he was doing in the Mid-80s. And yet, the column showed that he still doesn't fully understand what happened. He appears to have believed that he could have finessed the many difficult problems that Perestroika opened up. He certainly wasn't alone in that - I don't know of anyone East or West who accurately predicted the astonishing way things turned out in 1991. But I think it is quite evident in retrospect that the Soviet system was doomed in one way or another and that the process was only accelerated the moment Gobachev began to unclench Stalin's fist. It's clear, however, that he still thinks he could have maintained the Union in some form if he had acted differently, and I am not so sure of that.

03-15-2010, 06:08 PM	#3
Zarekylin75 Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 440 Senior Member	By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV Published: March 13, 2010 Op-Ed Contributor - Today’s Russia - Perestroika Lost - NYTimes.com That was an extremely interesting column, mostly for what Gorbachev said (and didn't say) about himself. It's interesting to hear him admit and reflect on the degree to which he didn't understand the full implications of what he was doing in the Mid-80s. And yet, the column showed that he still doesn't fully understand what happened. He appears to have believed that he could have finessed the many difficult problems that Perestroika opened up. He certainly wasn't alone in that - I don't know of anyone East or West who accurately predicted the astonishing way things turned out in 1991. But I think it is quite evident in retrospect that the Soviet system was doomed in one way or another and that the process was only accelerated the moment Gobachev began to unclench Stalin's fist. It's clear, however, that he still thinks he could have maintained the Union in some form if he had acted differently, and I am not so sure of that.
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