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By Larry B. Dendy
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped dissolve Communism in his own country while leading a crusade for global peace, will speak Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Stegeman  Coliseum. The speech is free and open to the public.
Regarded as one of the century’s pre-eminent international leaders, Gorbachev helped thaw the Cold War by introducing political and economic reform in the Soviet Union, ending Communist rule in Eastern Europe and forging a new policy of peace and cooperation with the United States.
With President Ronald Reagan, he signed two landmark disarmament pacts that earned him the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.
“Gorbachev will go down as one of the most significant personalities of the 20th century,” says Gary Bertsch, director of Center for International Trade and Security at UGA. “More than anyone else, he helped prompt the collapse of Communism and engineered the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet empire.”
Gorbachev’s speech is being sponsored by a private gift to the University of Georgia Foundation. Arrangements for the speech were facilitated by Pat Mitchell of Atlanta, a CNN executive and friend of Gorbachev. Mitchell is president of Global Green USA, the American affiliate of Green Cross International, of which Gorbachev is president. The program, which has affiliates in 21 countries, works with business, government and industry to promote the goal of a sustainable and secure world.
Mitchell, who is president of CNN Productions, won a Peabody Award for the acclaimed television series Cold War. A UGA graduate, she will introduce Gorbachev at the speech.
UGA President Michael F. Adams says all interested citizens are invited to attend the speech.
“It’s fitting that at a time when globalization is becoming one of the university’s major priorities, we will host one of the most significant international leaders of our era,” says Adams. “It will be an honor to have Mr. Gorbachev on our campus, and we’re especially pleased that our students will have a chance to see one of the dominant figures of their lifetime. We hope many people will take advantage of the opportunity to hear him discuss a topic of great importance to the world.”
UGA has another connection to Gorbachev through Igor Khripunov, a former official in the Soviet foreign affairs ministry who is now associate director of the Center for International Trade and Security. Khripunov was an interpreter when Gorbachev made his first visit as president to a western nation--his historic trip to England in 1985.
Gorbachev was a Communist Party stalwart for more than 30 years before becoming president of the Soviet Union in 1985. Over the next five years, he essentially dismantled the party’s power using two revolutionary concepts that he introduced to the world: perestroika--a restructuring of the economy--and glasnost--a new openness in government. His reforms streamlined and decentralized the party’s authority and helped pave the way for the breakup of the Soviet empire, leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and independence for Eastern European nations.
He developed strong relationships with Reagan and other western leaders, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who, after Gorbachev’s 1985 visit, said, “This is a man I can do business with.” The hallmarks of the Reagan-Gorbachev alliance are the two broad disarmament agreements that significantly reduced the danger of nuclear warfare.
In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, Gorbachev won high honors in his own country, including the Order of Lenin and the Badge of Honor.
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