Mikhail Gorbachev’s death caused a surge of debates on his political heritage. As expected, opinions were split. Negative comments focused on the Soviet Union’s dissolution, the consequences of which still affect us, for example, in the conflict with Ukraine. Positive assessments emphasized unprecedented democratization, the beginning of the transition to a market economy, a sharp reduction in the risk of conflict with the West, and global integration.

       For some people, Gorbachev was a symbol of a superpower’s collapse, while for others he was a reformer, who paved the way to liberation and freedom. Unlike the majority of Soviet and pre-revolutionary leaders, who died either in power or as a result of losing it, Gorbachev lived a long and comfortable life after leaving his post. However, he still remains probably the most tragic figure among Russian leaders. A vigorous orchestrator of long overdue reforms, he eventually lost control over them and failed to prevent a quick and inevitable catastrophe.

       When studying the experience of Gorbachev’s leadership, people are tempted to suggest what they would have done differently. They are sure that they would not have allowed the country to collapse, or that they would have carried out reforms with a tougher, hard-core approach. Given this thinking, ruling a country might be likened to a sort of a computer game – something like a step-by-step strategy or even a real-time strategy. Here’s one goal and here’s the next. Here we have raw materials, factories, food, and a population. Here are our rivals, and here are our allies. The game has several pluses. You can introduce a cheat code and receive an endless supply of money and resources. You can also save the game at a crossroads and then replay it in case of a setback. Finally, you can put it on pause, take a break, or simply forget about it. Few gamers (the majority of people in the last two generations) can maintain their initial strategy in one go without saving it at some point or using other trickery.

       Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.