Gorbachev was a reformist who changed the map of Europe

Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War and halted the global arms race, was hailed in the West as a hero but condemned by many in Russia.

Marilyn Berger

Aug 31, 2022 – 1.45pm

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Mikhail S. Gorbachev, whose rise to power in the Soviet Union set in motion a series of revolutionary changes that transformed the map of Europe and ended the Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation, has died in Moscow. He was 91.

Few leaders in the 20th century, indeed in any century, have had such a profound effect on their time. In little more than six tumultuous years, Gorbachev lifted the Iron Curtain, decisively altering the political climate of the world.