After years of rapprochement, the relationship between Russia and the West is more strained now than it has been in the past 25 years. Putin s motives, his reasons for seeking confrontation with the West, remain for many a mystery. Not for Mikhail Gorbachev. In this new work, Russia s elder statesman draws on his wealth of knowledge and experience to reveal the development of Putin s regime and the intentions behind it. He argues that Putin has significantly diminished the achievements of perestroika and is part of an over-centralized system that presents a precarious future for Russia. Faced with this, Gorbachev advocates a radical reform of politics and a new fostering of pluralism and social democracy.Gorbachev s insightful analysis moves beyond internal politics to address wider problems in the region, including the Ukraine conflict, as well as the global challenges of poverty and climate change. Above all else, he insists that solutions are to be found by returning to the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation which was so instrumental in ending the Cold War. This book represents the summation of Gorbachev s thinking on the course that Russia has taken since 1991 and stands as a testament to one of the greatest and most influential statesmen of the twentieth century.

After years of rapprochement, the relationship between Russia and the West is more strained now than it has been in the past 25 years. Putin's motives, his reasons for seeking confrontation with the West, remain for many a mystery. Not for Mikhail Gorbachev. In this new work, Russia's elder statesman draws on his wealth of knowledge and experience to reveal the development of Putin's regime and the intentions behind it. He argues that Putin has significantly diminished the achievements of perestroika and is part of an over-centralized system that presents a precarious future for Russia. Faced with this, Gorbachev advocates a radical reform of politics and a new fostering of pluralism and social democracy.Gorbachev's insightful analysis moves beyond internal politics to address wider problems in the region, including the Ukraine conflict, as well as the global challenges of poverty and climate change. Above all else, he insists that solutions are to be found by returning to the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation which was so instrumental in ending the Cold War.This book represents the summation of Gorbachev's thinking on the course that Russia has taken since 1991 and stands as a testament to one of the greatest and most influential statesmen of the twentieth century.

Table of contentsTo my readersPreface: Perestroika and the futureTrying to bury meI After PerestroikaThe 1990s: Defending PerestroikaMy last day in the KremlinA new beginning, without presidential immunityShock therapyThe search for a scapegoat, threatsThe Gorbachev Foundation: its first reportsDecember 1991: politics and moralitySalvation in workAttempts to ?destabilize? meThe ?Trial of the CPSU?First results of shock therapyA year after the coupMy stanceThe slide towards social catastropheOn the brink of crisisFateful decisions, fateful daysA state of emergency is not the way to stabilityDefects of the new Constitution1994 gets off to a bad startEconomists advise but the government is not listeningNikita Khrushchev: lessons in courage and lessons from mistakesThe Union could have been savedThe economy: what now?Meetings in the regionsChechnya: a war that could have been avoided1995: 10 years of PerestroikaThe intelligentsiaGovernment and societyThe need for an alternativeBreaking through the conspiracy of silenceLetters relating to the 1996 presidential election campaignDiscrediting electionsThe final years of the millenniumThe Gorbachev Foundation?s ?First Five-Year Plan?The elections fail to bring stabilityThe storm breaks in 1998How to come out of the crisis?Letters of supportRaisa GorbachevaII Whither Russia?Putin: the beginningThe new president: hopes, problems, fearsWhat is Glasnost?The heavy burden of the presidencyMy social-democratic choiceRussia needs social democracyIssues and more issuesThe zero years of the 2000s?The Yukos affairA party of new bureaucratsA second presidential term: what for?A new direction, or more of the same?Full of contradictions: the first decade of the new millenniumNew electionsDemocracy in distressOperation SuccessorIdeas and peopleSaakashvili?s adventure and the West: my reactionOrdeal by global crisisDefending the credo of PerestroikaDisturbing trendsMy eightieth birthdayRussian politics in a quandaryA new Era of Stagnation?The presidential ?reshuffle? and the Duma electionsFor fair elections!Society awakensA decision to tighten the screwsSome letters of support in recent yearsThe need for dialogue between the government and societyIII Today?s uneasy worldThe relevance of New ThinkingChallenges of globalizationThe challenge of securityBan the bomb!Consequences of NATO expansionThe world after 9/11Poverty is a political problemResponding to the environmental challengeThe water crisisThe threat of climate changeWe need a new model of developmentMeetings in America: George Shultz and Ronald ReaganPartners should be equalThe role of the United States in the world?America needs its own Perestroika?The election of ObamaThe future of EuropeGermanyOn a solid foundationMajor figures in European politicsLooking East: ChinaRussia and JapanA Simmering Region: Egypt and SyriaRussia and UkraineHistory Is Not FatedConclusionReflections of an optimistIndex