From the NS archive: Rising star of the Kremlin
14 December 1984: Mikhail Gorbachev, heir apparent to the then Soviet general secretary Konstantin Chernenko, paid a visit to London.
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Gorbachev’s magnificent failure
The last Soviet leader, who died this week, accelerated the decline of the Soviet Union – but did so by…
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Mikhail Gorbachev tried to unite the impossible – his failure was heroic
What does a country do with a man who changed it forever?
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Western leaders praise Mikhail Gorbachev in the wake of his death
The last leader of the Soviet Union, credited with ending the Cold War, died at the age of 91 in…
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Lawrence Freedman’s Diary: My ban from entering Russia and memories of Cold War encounters with the KGB
I was last on the Kremlin’s most recent list of people to be sanctioned. This suggested I was something of…
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Europe’s new Iron Lady: Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas
The Baltic leader has become the EU’s strongest advocate for an uncompromising response to Russia.
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From the NS archive: Fidel, Mao and Nikita
22 March 1963: The Soviet Union and China battle for control of world communism.
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What are “Trots” and “Tankies”?
Unpicking the political name-calling on the British left.
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