AN APPEAL FROM
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
TO THE WORLD
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Contribution to the Russian original: Karen Karagezyan For the German edition: translated from the Russian original by Marina Cronauer. Translated into English by Elizabeth Ball.
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Cover design: b3K design, Andrea Schneider, diceindustries
Cover photo: © Kommersant Photo/Contributor
Photo page 4: © Bigi Alt;
Photo page 7: © Dmitriy Belanovskiy;
Photo page 56: © Yury Lisunov
Printed in the Czech Republic
ISBN 978-3-7109-5043-6
eISBN 978-3-7109-5034-6
PREFACE
We are ONE humanity!
Franz Alt in conversation with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev
The Gorby Story
Mikhail Gorbachev Biography
Dr. Franz Alt TV journalist and best-selling author
References
LISTEN TO REASON –
WAR NO MORE!
A grey autumn day in Moscow in 2016. We are sitting in the study of the Gorbachev Foundation, Mikhail Gorbachev, his interpreter of many years Marina Cronauer, close confidant Vladimir Polyakov and I, to conclusively discuss and only lightly debate the text of this little book. Behind Gorbachev hangs a large and impressive picture of the Japanese holy mountain, Mount Fuji. The walls are decorated with photos of Gorbachev with US President Bush, with Helmut Kohl, with Hans-Dietrich Genscher and a good deal of photos taken by and with Raisa Gorbacheva.
The first snow is falling outside. The frosty Moscow weather is well suited to the current climate between Russia and the West. But even now, Mikhail Gorbachev is still steadfastly speaking of “possible reconciliation” and recalls that even in the Cold War 30 years ago, mutual trust paved the way for reconciliation and demilitarisation. According to Gorbachev, President Putin had spoken of reconciliation on Russian TV the very evening before we met.
On my comment that there is often a discrepancy between Putin’s words and actions, he says: “Let’s wait and see. We need patience. I expect this from both sides. All parties are making mistakes at the moment. As long as the last atom bomb has not been destroyed, I still see the danger of a nuclear war occurring. A war like that would be the last one in the history of mankind. After that, there would be no one left to carry on fighting.”
I am convinced that this voice of reconciliation and common sense is just as important today as it was in the last century when the world teetered on the brink of the nuclear abyss. And that is why this little book with the voice of the great politician is being released. As I flew to Moscow, I read outraged commentaries in the Western newspapers about the Russian bombs being dropped in Syria. In the newspapers in Moscow shortly thereafter, I read similar outrage towards the Western bombs being dropped in the Middle East. Are there good bombs and bad bombs? Are our bombs good, and their bombs evil?
On this visit, I discover that Mikhail Gorbachev co-founded Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent newspapers in Russia, and has provided it with financial support for many years. He is still a shareholder to this day. Since 2000, five journalists from the newspaper have been murdered, including Anna Politkovskaya, and several more colleagues have been seriously injured.
In these times of new negative stereotypes of the enemy, we need voices that can mediate and reconcile, such as that of the 85-year-old experienced and brave realist, Mikhail Gorbachev.
He firmly adheres to his motto: War no more! Peace is possible.
Franz Alt
November 2016
Where are the developments of the globalised world of the 21st century leading us? Why is today’s world unsettled, unjust, militarised?
These questions are being posed by people driven by increasing worry. I too am worried. You would think that the end of global confrontation and the unprecedented possibilities opened up by new technological developments would have given the world a new impetus and improved the life of every individual. But you would be mistaken.
There is no simple explanation for this. Politics has shown that it is not up to the task. I have said this many times. Those who declared the “victory of the West in the Cold War” and refused to develop a new and equitable security system bear a great deal of responsibility for the present situation. The thrill of victory gives poor council! And that is especially true in the field of international relations.
But this is not the only reason. We still do not fully understand this new globalised world, we have not yet scrutinised it thoroughly. It requires new ways of behaving and a new set of morals. But the leading politicians are just not able to concern themselves with this matter due to the sheer amount of day-to-day business.
I believe this is the main cause of the global “turmoil” we are experiencing today.
People are worried about tensions in the world. But they are no less worried about their own situation and perspectives. One is directly dependent on the other.
Even in highly developed industrial nations, the middle classes, the engine powering every successful societal development, seem dissatisfied with their own lives. Increasingly, voters are supporting populists, who at a first glance offer simple, but in reality, dangerous solutions.
On the other hand, the creators of opaque financial structures who are not accountable to anyone, have adapted quickly to globalisation and are profiting from it. They create one bubble after the other and make billions, quite literally, out of thin air! These billions are then at the disposal of an ever smaller circle of people who avoid paying taxes on them. We have had new revelations demonstrating this in recent times. But this is just the tip of the iceberg … In addition to this, organised crime, drug traffickers, arms traders, human traffickers profiting from the flow of migration, cyber criminals and, above all, terrorists have long since established themselves in the globalised world. They feel comfortable and safe here.