Skip to content

Gorbachev’s legacy is lauded by the West. The reality is more complicated

Gorbachev was heralded by the West but his political legacy feels largely irrelevant today

Gorbachev’s legacy is lauded by the West. The reality is more complicated
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91 | (c) Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved
Published:

It was in 1984, Mikhail Gorbachev recalled, that he met Margaret Thatcher at Chequers.

The relationship between the pair has since been romanticised, with Thatcher famously referring to Gorbachev as “a man one could do business with”.

In his recollection of the trip, Gorbachev remembered the encounter as “open and friendly”, adding: “nevertheless, our ideological differences immediately became apparent”.