Gorbachev: The contradictory career of a visionary statesman, unsuccessful reformer (Obituary)

The last top surviving figure of the Cold War, he was heralded as a statesman who had the vision and courage to help end the undeclared global conflict that raged from the stark terrain of Afghanistan to the steamy jungles of Latin America to the dusty confines of sub-Saharan Africa.

On the other hand, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is castigated as the leader whose attempts to reform the Soviet Union caused its collapse.

There is no disputing the fact that Gorbachev, who passed away in Moscow on Tuesday over three decades after the Soviet Union passed away changed the world, and his country, though much more, and irreversibly, than he wished.

But, as far as the Soviet Union is concerned - is he the only one responsible? Could it be Lenin, for laying faulty foundations? Stalin, for his excesses while making it an unquestioned superpower? Khrushchev, for his impetuous, and usually rash decisions? Brezhnev, for presiding over an era of stagnation? Or only Gorbachev with his unsuccessful reforms?

As Soviet Union's last leader, after the brief stints of Yuri Andropov

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor