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BLOOMBERG POLITICS Bloomberg Politics Original article: Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
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Bloomberg ... Bloomberg Politics August 31st, 2022 6:25 AM Gorbachev’s Russia is long gone Feted abroad and despised at home in practically equal measure, Mikhail Gorbachev left a complex legacy as the last leader of the Soviet Union. His death last night, aged 91, prompted no declaration of national mourning from the Kremlin, which couldn’t even say whether Gorbachev will receive a state funeral. State TV reported Gorbachev’s demise well down its news schedules. Key reading:
Where Gorbachev advocated “glasnost” (openness), Putin has restored Soviet-era repression to crush domestic dissent. Nationalists and Communists cheer his war in Ukraine as a reassertion of Kremlin power that Gorbachev betrayed by acceding to the Soviet Union’s dissolution, with relatively little bloodshed, as republics declared their independence from Moscow. Older Russians who experienced extreme hardship in the economic collapse that followed often share their disdain for the Nobel Peace Prize winner. They’re joined by younger Russians who’ve been raised under Putin to romanticize the Soviet past, ignoring the mass killings and economic ineffectiveness, even as they strive to enjoy the greater freedoms that Gorbachev’s rule ushered in. More than 30 years after he stood down as Soviet leader, there’s confrontation again between Russia and the US and its allies. The indifference that mostly greeted his death at home and the effusive tributes abroad show that, for all the hopes Gorbachev inspired, the man who helped dismantle the Iron Curtain lived long enough to see much of his legacy undone. Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev hold their historic “fireside chat” in Geneva in 1985. Photographer: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images Global Headlines Records wrangling | The White House records that former President Donald Trump held at his Florida home may have been concealed or removed before an FBI visit in June, suggesting possible attempts to obstruct the investigation, the US Department of Justice said. Its assertion was a response to Trump’s lawsuit seeking the appointment of a “special master” to review the documents. A group of former federal prosecutors and ex-New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman criticized Trump’s lawsuit seeking a third-party review of the documents seized, calling his executive-privilege claims unprecedented and “frivolous.” A photo of documents from Trump’s home submitted as evidence by the DOJ. Source: Department of Justice Pipeline worries | Europe faces the risk of blackouts, rationing and a severe recession if Russia further cuts gas deliveries, and the next reality check is at hand. A three-day halt of the Nord Stream pipeline — a key source of natural gas for the European Union — started today, with concerns that Moscow will find another excuse to curb supplies. Russian state energy giant Gazprom meanwhile told French utility Engie it would halt deliveries from tomorrow amid a disagreement over payments. Gazprom’s board recommended an interim dividend payout for the first time in its history yesterday after reporting record first-half revenue and net income despite international sanctions. US life expectancy fell by almost a year in 2021 after plunging by 1.8 years in 2020, the biggest two-year decline in nearly a century as Covid-19 ravaged the country. Many nations saw declines in life expectancy during the pandemic, though a study published last year found the 2020 fall was steeper in the US than in comparable developed economies. Climate damage | The toll of extreme flooding on Pakistan’s food security is becoming apparent: large swathes of farmland under water, crops and food stocks washed away, homes and livelihoods wiped out. The deluge has damaged rice and cotton crops, while wheat planting is also at risk at a time when the world can ill afford another disruption to grain supplies. Pakistan’s flooding is a natural disaster that no country can fully prepare for, but early warning systems could save many lives, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. Best of Bloomberg Opinion
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