Word: westerner
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...years, he temporized, trying to get a bad system to work better by eliminating drunkenness, corruption and inefficiency. This policy failed, so he adopted bolder reforms. His purpose was not to abandon Communism but to save it. Ironically, by doing so he has become the darling of Western intellectuals and pundits...
Many observers say he inspired the changes under way in Eastern Europe. Some even say he encouraged them. Most ignore that it was Western ideals, combined with the failure of Communist ideals he still defends and opposition to Soviet domination he represents, which brought millions into the streets. It is true that he could have repressed the demonstrations, but it might not have worked and would have inevitably derailed his brilliant diplomatic blitzkrieg aimed at psychologically disarming the West. Instead, he is now getting credit for developments he could not contain...
...providing help for Gorbachev, we should adhere to a fundamental principle. If his ultimate goal is to make life better for the Soviet people, we should help him. But we should not help him if his ultimate goal is to make life more difficult for the West by using Western subsidies to build an economically and militarily stronger Soviet Union with the same aggressive foreign policy...
...quite an animated discussion about Western values vs. democratic values. I thought they were the same thing. But he interpreted our definition of Western values to mean that we were right and he was wrong. Whereas democratic values are what he has been working...
...empathetic reception, I had a sense of, if you will, historical vindication. But I also had a sense of something much more important. There was a breakthrough taking place in the thinking of people who for 70 years were artificially divorced from the intellectual and philosophical currents of the Western world. They are now in the process of restoring some of those connections, of rejoining that process. They are much , more willing to be self-critical and to listen to criticism. They appreciate the degree to which the Soviet Union has fallen out of step with global development, and that...