The Gorbachev Foundation launched a new book “Responding to the Challenge of the Times”

The book Responding to the Challenge of the Times. The foreign policy of Perestroika: Documentary Evidence. Based on Transcripts of Conversations between M.S. Gorbachev and Foreign Leaders and other Materials (Ves Mir Publishers, М., 2010) was officially launched on March 19, 2010, as part of the International Conference “Responding to the Challenge of the Times” hosted by the Gorbachev-Foundation. It contains a truly unique collection of evidence and documents related to the foreign policy of the Perestroika period (1985-1991). The book for the first time makes public transcripts of conversations and talks Mikhail Gorbachev had with leaders of the world’s leading powers and many other foreign states, as well as records of the meetings held at Politburo to discuss the objectives of negotiations and the outcomes of meetings with foreign leaders. They give an insight into what made Gorbachev and Politburo embark on a new course in international relations and the thinking behind the decisions they took and the underlying circumstances and reveal many previously unknown facts and stories, shedding light on many events that have been obscure for many years.

The book in general provides a comprehensive picture of the process of ending the Cold War, eliminating the threat of nuclear confrontation, and improving relations between the Soviet Union and most countries of the world based on the principles of trust and mutual accommodation of national and common interests. Of particular interest are the book materials dealing with the more dramatic events of the period, including the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from that country, the Persian Gulf War, and the events that took place in Eastern European countries shortly before the demise of the Soviet Union.

The book's readership includes historians, political scientists, and readers taking interest in the modern history of our country and world politics.

The book was compiled by Aleksandr Veber, Aleksandr Galkin, Yury Krasin, Vadim Medvedev, Pavel Palazhchenko, and Anatoly Chernyayev.