Mikhail Gorbachev died at 91 on Aug. 30, 2022. A historian of the Soviet era assesses his impact and the consequences of his failed attempts to reform state socialism.
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Articles on Soviet Communism
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Like other tragic reformers in history, Gorbachev’s chief legacy is to remind us about what might have been, rather than what subsequently transpired.
Putin often uses words to mean exactly the opposite of what they normally do – a practice diagnosed by political author George Orwell as ‘doublespeak,’ or the language of totalitarians.
For many in former Soviet Bloc countries the desire to forget the communist past conflicts with the need to make money from dark tourism sites.
Most of the time, these operations were not urgent – unlike the one following this disaster that summoned some 600,000 people to the site of the worst nuclear accident of all time.
As Bulguria’s iconic Buzludzha monument attracts international investment, a survey has found that the country’s people want more of their Communist monuments to be conserved.
Ivor Montagu’s childhood was privileged, but he rebelled against his wealthy upbringing to become a pioneer of film culture, an activist documentary maker and an ardent supporter of Soviet communism.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor (Adj), Griffith Asia Institute; and Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer of Nonprofit Management, Columbia University
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Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan
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PhD Researcher in Archaeology and Ancient History, Cardiff University
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Adjunct Professor of Film, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Professor of Marketing and Tourism, Nottingham Trent University
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Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality, Leeds Beckett University
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Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wayne State University
