Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will be laid to rest on Saturday, four days after his death at the age of 91. Many remember Gorbachev not only as the premier who presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union, but as the man who lost the Cold War.
Thom Shanker, director of the Project for Media and National Security at the George Washington University, prefers to cast Gorbachev in a different light. As Moscow bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune, Mr. Shanker experienced the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union firsthand. If Ronald Reagan was the big winner of the Cold War, Mr. Shanker writes, it was largely because Gorbachev was an indispensable partner. He also contrasts Gorbachev, a pragmatic reformer who recognized the need to adapt to the changing times, with the faux-nostalgic and revanchist regime of Vladimir Putin.
To schedule an interview with Mr. Shanker, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected]. [video:https://vimeo.com/745549059 width:560 height:315 align:center lightbox_title:GW's Thom Shanker]