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Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union whose policies of perestroika and glasnost eventually led to the end of the Cold War, will visit East Central University, Ada, Oct. 25.
Gorbachev will speak in Kerr Activities Center at 7 p.m. He will speak through an interpreter for about 45 minutes, then answer questions for about 45 minutes. Free tickets will be available later.
Gorbachev's visit is being organized by a committee chaired by Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya, associate professor of English and languages, and funded by gifts from Ada businesses, organizations and individuals.
Gorbachev, the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1985 to 1991, is admired for introducing the policies of perestroika (governmental restructuring) and glasnost (political openness) in an effort to streamline and decentralize the oppressive - and failing - system he inherited.
His reform efforts brought about the most significant changes in the Soviet Union since the time of Lenin. Those changes, however, set the USSR on an irreversible course toward freedom and resulted in the fall of the political supremacy of the Communist Party and the breakup of the Soviet Union.
He also sought to improve relations with the West. He met one-on-one with President Ronald Reagan in Iceland in 1986 and signed a treaty with the United States in 1987 to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Gorbachev represented Russia at President Reagan's funeral in 2004.
Under Gorbachev, private ownership of businesses in the services, manufacturing and foreign-trade sectors was permitted for the first time since the 1920s, the first openly contested elections since 1917 were held in Russia, people were granted more freedoms, including the freedom of speech, and the Soviet Eastern bloc nations were allowed to determine their own internal affairs, resulting in the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War.
For his contributions to reducing tensions between the East and West, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He also received the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor and the Badge of Honor.
The Congress of People's Deputies, created in 1989, voted in 1990 to end the Communist Party's control over the government and elected Gorbachev as the first executive president. The reform movement began to stall, however, and hardliners who did not like the deterioration of the Soviet empire and the Communist Party's loss of power launched an unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev in 1991.
The Commonwealth of Independent States was formed in December 1991 and Gorbachev soon resigned as president of the Soviet Union.
Today, he is president of the non-profit, non-partisan, educational Gorbachev Foundation which he established in 1992 to address the challenges of the post-Cold War world through the revisioning of global priorities.
He founded the environmental organization Green Cross International in 1993 to clean up military toxins, assist in the creation of global ecological law and foster a value shift on the environment.
For information, contact Sukholutskaya at 580-310-5293.