Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the former Soviet Union (1985-1991) and 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner, died on 30 August. His efforts to reform the communist regime of the USSR, known as “Perestroika” and “Glasnost”, broadly (Transparency), led to the collapse of the regime and the end of the Cold War. Moreover, and this is even more important, they marked the exit of mankind from the possibility of self-destruction by the final (I hope, taking into account the facts) the renunciation of nuclear weapons. Historians have already assessed the impact of his decisions on world political events in the second half of the 20th century.

The reason for this article is a little-known aspect of the story that took place during Gorbachev’s visit to Washington in December 1987, when an agreement was signed with then-President Reagan to limit nuclear weapons. I had the good fortune to meet him and his wife Raisa when I received an invitation to a reception given by Gorbachev at the Soviet embassy in honor of the so-called American “intelligentsia.” He invited writers, scientists, politicians, even actors, there were at least a hundred people in the room. Politicians included Henry Kissinger, Peter Peterson, Nixon’s former Secretary of Commerce, and others. Also in attendance were author Joyce Carol Oates of Princeton, publisher Atlantic Monthly (I was a subscriber at the time and remember him well), and other representatives of the arts and literature. In addition, professors from academia, such as the renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith of Harvard.

Gorbachev spoke in Russian with an interpreter for more than an hour, without a script. I must confess that the coherence and structure of his speech made a terrible impression on me. It was evident that he knew the entire economic base and system of the United States and the West as a whole. He was well-read – at one point he referred to a paragraph in one of Galbraith’s books (Economics and Public Purpose, 1973, if I remember correctly) and turning to him asked, “Didn’t you write that, Professor? ‘, and Galbraith, rather surprised, nodded his head. The main theme of Gorbachev’s speech was perestroika and glasnost, and the idea that change would come to the Soviet system and communism through openness. And suddenly, towards the end of his speech, he said the following incredible thing: “Of course, what I told you is what we think about our country. However, we can be wrong, and ultimately the system can have fatal flaws.”

I sat at a small table with Sidney Drell, director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, on one side, and Roald Sagdeev, director of the Space Research Institute in Moscow and Gorbachev’s advisor on Star Wars, the famous Star Wars, on the other. . Sagdeev was an excellent theoretical physicist, and in previous years we discussed many issues of space physics, as well as the feasibility of the Star Wars system. By the way, the last question seriously worried the leadership of the Soviet Union, and Sagdeev repeatedly mentioned it not only in private conversations during my visits to Moscow since the 1960s, but also at meetings with colleagues at scientific conferences in different countries. So when we heard Gorbachev’s last statement, which I mentioned above, I turned around and asked Sagdeev, “Did the interpreter translate it correctly?” “You translated correctly,” he pointedly told me.

Gorbachev expressed his doubts about the survival of the communist system to a respected international audience three years before the collapse of communism! Apparently, he already understood the fatal weaknesses of the system and was preparing for the end in such a way as to ensure world peace and begin the restoration to economic growth and prosperity of his beleaguered country. Judging by the wide and favorable coverage in the world press in the previous days, History has already vindicated him.

“Of course, what I told you is what we think of our country. However, we can be wrong, and ultimately the system can have fatal flaws.”

* Mr. Stamatis Krimizis is a Member of the Athens Academy (Space Science Center) and Honorary Director of NASA Space Programs at Johns Hopkins University, USA. A summary of the story is published in the book by S. Krimizis – M. Provatas “Everything for Life”, published by Papadopoulos.