August

August 22, 2011

Mikhail Gorbachev. Lessons from the U.S.S.R. coup attempt

Twenty years ago this weekend, a group of Communist Party Politburo members and Soviet government officials attempted a coup d’état. They created an unconstitutional “committee on the state of emergency,” isolated the Soviet...

August 19, 2011

Mikhail Gorbachev: We will continue to move towards democracy.

 Jonathan Steele in Moscow The former president looks back on his role in the fall of the Soviet Union 20 years ago in an exclusive Guardian interview Politicians rarely admit mistakes, but Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev always was in a...

August 15, 2011

Mikhail Gorbachev: I would start perestroika in the same way today

In a SPIEGEL interview, Mikhail Gorbachev, 80, discusses the last days of the Soviet Union, his failure to resolve problems with the Communist Party and the ensuing bloodshed he says still troubles him today. He also accuses Vladimir Putin of...

August 10, 2011

Ambassador Jack Matlock’s letter to Russian TV channel NTV

Dear Ms. Diveeva, Thank you for your invitation to participate in your studio discussion of the 1991 August Putsch. Unfortunately, I will not be able to come to Moscow for this event since I do not have time to make the arrangements for a visa and...

Ambassador Jack Matlock’s letter to Russian TV channel NTV

August 5, 2011

Mikhail Gorbachev Congratulates U.S. President Baraсk Obama on His 50th Birthday

Dear Mr. President, Please accept my sincere congratulations on your 50th birthday. This is perhaps the first real jubilee in a person’s life, and it has coincided with an important stage in your presidency. At our very first meeting with you...