
Mikhail Gorbachev – The Tallest and most Transformative Political Figure of the Cold War Era.
Mikhail Gorbachev played a decisive role in ending the Cold War through a fundamental shift in Soviet foreign policy known as “new thinking.” Upon becoming General Secretary in 1985, he abandoned the traditional Marxist-Leninist view of inevitable conflict between socialism and capitalism and instead emphasized mutual security, interdependence, and the




















