Mikhail S. GORBACHEV

President of the USSR (1990-1991)

Good afternoon!

I would like to pay my compliments to the President, ministers, and other leading politicians, businesspeople and members of society, and congratulate you all on this event, which is undoubtedly an occasion of international importance.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would, first of all, like to thank you for inviting me to this interesting and impressive event. I am sure that the fact we are discussing issues concerning our joint future interests is an inspiration to all of us.

We had a private breakfast this morning and I heard many interesting things. Apparently, Turkey leads the European market for road transportation and is second only to the United States in the world. This was astounding news to me. I am glad that relations and trade between our two countries are developing and I feel there is potential for this to continue in the future. This trend makes sense to me as our countries have long been neighbours. There were times when we struggled to determine which of us is stronger and more important, there were empires which changed the world but today we are at a crossroads, where despite our previous conflicts, we now have good relations, which we can be proud of and I believe that very important events await us in the future.

Thank you. I would like to add that when I was the President of my country, the first construction companies in Moscow were Turkish. The building of the foundation for which I now work was built by Turkish construction companies. I have long worked in this area and I know many positive things about Turkish people working in Russia. I believe that their number will continue to grow as Russia has great plans and ambitions, with massive investment projects, not least in the area of transportation, particularly road transportation. These roads will criss-cross our vast country in all directions, a country that covers nine and a half time zones. I am confident that we will see Turkish involvement in these projects and use these opportunities to further develop our cooperation.

I congratulate all participants and delegates, who have come from every corner of the globe to represent the modern world in which we live, on the 60th anniversary of your Union and your 31st Congress. It is amazing how powerfully and quickly this organisation is developing, and I think the scale I saw in the tables, shows that many things have changed and are changing for the better. Having said that, I must also mention that we have a number of unsolved problems, which must be taken into account. I think we all understand, and it’s something that we have discussed at length, that road transportation represents the blood vessels of our modern human body, and if these vessels are in good shape and getting stronger, the whole body feels better. Given the Congress and the 60th anniversary, I would also like to congratulate all representatives of the road transportation business and wish all workers in this industry great success in the future. I believe all of our countries are interested in this success, at least as much as the workers themselves.

The fact that there are active discussions of a draft plan for recreating the Great Silk Road indicates that the leadership of the Union has a strategic vision, a vision that I welcome. There was a time when as the President of my country, I said in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk that the world is moving towards the Pacific region and it is in that region, where its fate will be decided. I am glad that the Union leaders agree with that sentiment. It turns out that we are allies and like-minded people, and so I am doubly happy to be among you today, as you discuss your great plans and the future. As individuals, ordinary citizens, we all consume the products of road transportation. Transport accompanies people from the moment a young mother is taken to give birth and back, and stays with them throughout their lives. Cities are cleaned up, shops are opened because transportation has been used to bring goods to them, and when they open in the morning we consume the services. We could talk at length about this matter. Transportation is also important because it concerns issues of safety, and in speaking today and noting your achievements and your contribution to the general development of countries, I would also like to say that road accidents, which cause people to be killed and injured, are a problem for the whole world. I speak primarily from a Russian point of view. The number of cars is growing so quickly in all areas and cities, and in Moscow in particular, that we were unprepared for the development of transport infrastructure in such a way as to ensure that it does not harm people.

I want to add something on this matter. The modern world, the world about which I wish to speak and the world which consumes your services and creates the context within which we all live, within which all production takes place and within which the political events of the day play out, is the context within which road transportation operates. The modern world is the product of the twentieth century, a complicated and in many ways tragic century, which nonetheless lifted humanity to a new level of development. It is sufficient to say that ninety discoveries were made in the 20th century. We mastered nuclear energy, information technology, communications and entered space in the 20th century. Dozens of nations achieved their independence due to the breakdown of the colonial system. In the second half of the 20th century, over 100 states rid themselves of their authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. In essence, we are witnessing the democratic transition from authoritarianism and dictatorship to democracy. Without this, without the people being free citizens, who can openly participate in discussions and decision making, we can achieve nothing. As much as politicians might like brief discussions and decisive action with little involvement of the people, those are things of the past. The greater the aims and objectives before us, the more prepared the people should be in all aspects: in culture, in science and in their ability to actively participate in solving all the problems we face. The changes, which began at the end of the 1980s in the Soviet Union, known as perestroika and glasnost, played a crucial role in the transformation of the world at the end of the 20th century. They affected not only our country, and Russia still has much to do. Whichever area we talk about, the country is still only half-way there; we have some way to go. As we have representatives from all over the world here, I wish to say that not everyone understands what is happening in Russia. We have to talk about this matter at length, and I wish to say a few words about this as well. Russia embarked on the way of democratic change and organic integration into the affairs of the world. Russia will continue to grow in strength and power, seeking to use its vast historical experience, intellectual potential and natural wealth to be an active participant in the new global world. I think we will all have to learn how to live and conduct our business in this world. We have only just started to solve this problem, which leads to errors, problems in global politics, disputes, conflicts and falling back to our previous, less democratic positions and the deployment of mechanisms, which are no longer appropriate. Massive new opportunities have also emerged.

I have just returned from the United States and I managed to pick up a cold there but that’s OK because there’s water! I’ll be fine. I remember there was a professor at my Moscow university, who suffered from the usual lecturer affliction: throat problems, pharyngitis and things like that. Every time he came to give a lecture he would have a beaker and a glass. That was back in the 50s. Well, once he came to lecture but there was no beaker or glass. After a while, a door opened and some catering staff brought in what he needed. We were in our fourth year of university and so we were quite relaxed and in humorous mood. Our professor was an exceptional man, orator and lecturer. He raised his eyes up at us and said: “Colleagues, my young colleagues, I want to tell you something. Even the best lectures cannot happen without water.” He justified his need for water in this way, and I hope his example can serve me now as well.

So, what was achieved today I heard partly from the discussions with the media. They talked about “Gorbachev’s mission”. I don’t accept that. It’s true, that a change of generations at the top of the Soviet Union played a huge role. The things that happened would not have happened otherwise. These were new people, who hadn’t witnessed the war, who had received a solid education, they were people of culture and people of a new time. They accepted the challenges set by this new time and with them we could begin to think about major plans. But we also found partners in the West, for without partners none of the plans and initiatives would have been realised. I want to pay tribute to people like Ronald Reagan. I mentioned how difficult a start we had with him this morning. We spoke for an hour at the Geneva meeting – that was the first time we met. When I came out of the meeting I told my delegation that he was a real dinosaur. A week later, I read in News Week that they asked Reagan what he thought about me and he said: “He’s a very stubborn Bolshevik.” That’s how things started out between us. But then we not only became friendly, we understood each other and began to trust each other. Reagan publicly said in the Kremlin: “Yes, I used to say that Russia is an evil empire but I don’t say that today. I withdraw that now, but I was right at the time.” He said that in response to a media question. That’s how things started out. Once, when I was on a visit to Washington, he began the discussion by lecturing me. He’s twenty years older than me, my mother’s age but I stopped him after a minute or two and said: “You know, Mr. President, you’re not a teacher, and I’m not here to study. Moreover, you are not a prosecutor and I’m not a defendant. If you want to work together and advance towards our objectives and goals, I ask that you keep that in mind. If this is how you intend to conduct our discussions, consider this meeting over.” No, we had our difficult moments but after that we could always discuss any issue with mutual respect and trust. That’s why I have to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher and George Bush Senior, Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterand, and other politicians of that time. The world had to be changed and knocked off the track on which it was at the time: the road to nuclear threat and possibly even a nuclear conflict. Unfortunately, the opportunities presented by the end of the Cold War have not been seized in full to this day, and the situation is not encouraging. I travel the world a lot and listen to what people have to say, to the questions they ask. I get a hail of questions from every audience and the impression I get is that people feel some sort of havoc approaching. The main question of the day seems to be: what next? What is the future going to be like? I think there are reasons why things turned out that way and I understand these reasons. First of all, the West has convinced itself that it won the Cold War. A winner’s complex is a terrible, horrific affliction. Our friends in America have yet to recover from it. Others found it easier, but the Americans are still suffering from it. It is this view, this distorted view of the world that has put us in this situation, with opportunities wasted. We lost 10-15 years, at least, on power struggles. We tried unilateral steps, tried building a new empire, tried creating a democratic Middle East overnight. None of it worked, because it was all based on the old approach and outdated methods.

Well, Churchill once said that: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else. “ I must say that we are now seeing some degree of understanding in America and this may give rise to the possibility of cooperation. There is some improvement in relations with Russia and I think that gives us reason to hope for a better agenda and cooperation. But the world concerns me for other reasons. It is in a situation, where we see clearly that this approach and these policies, which were not adapted to the challenges of the 21st century, are causing heavy losses. The emphasis on domination, power, unilateral action, the struggle for spheres of influence, war in Europe and the Middle East, and destabilisation in the post-Soviet region have increased tensions the world over, and the capital we used for development is gradually being eroded. We have stalled. The pursuit of ephemeral geopolitical advantage has lead to disregard for international law and the discarding of important documents like the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and others. Nuclear disarmament slowed, and a new race, a new arms race began. Expenditure on this race has reached a trillion, with half of this being spent by our friends in Washington. This is more than was ever spent on defence during the Cold War. There are some who believe that solving very complex problems, which affect hundreds on nations, cultures, and human experience and history in a global world, is easy, as easy as slicing off a piece of meat with a knife. These approaches are doomed to failure. The decisions taken in Rio de Janeiro, and subsequently the Kyoto Protocol, were ignored, and four world forums on water issues were not followed up on. Obligations to set aside 1.7%, agreed after the end of the Cold War, to be used in a fund to support developing and developed countries are not met. Only four countries have discharged their obligations on this issue. Here again, we are making mistakes. Mistakes in politics and strategy are the most costly of all. If we talk about the challenges we now face, we have three main challenges. Security, considering nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Poverty and deprivation. Half of the population of the entire planet lives in poverty, and only 1/3 of people live in conditions suitable for human beings. And finally, the global environmental crisis. I consider this last challenge to be the most important one. We are currently approaching the red line: 60% of ecosystems are seriously compromised. We are now essentially waiting for an impending global crisis or you could say that the crisis has already begun. The climate is changing before our very eyes, the planet is warming, with the ensuing consequences. According to moderate estimates, global temperature will increase by a further 1.8-4 degrees over the course of this century. This will give rise to more climate shocks and natural disasters. Having been the founding president of Green Cross International for 15 years, I am aware of this situation as I’ve had to deal with it. We were unprepared. We think that we’ll have enough resources, enough forests, enough of everything and that we don’t need to worry about it or spend any money on dealing with these issues. We have already been punished. The consequences could be such that some island nations will simply become submerged in water. This is a grave warning issued by many responsible international scientific institutions. A global water crisis is approaching. The water problem is already acute in a number of regions. More than a billion people do not have access to clean water. Two billion people live in unsanitary conditions. The cause of 80% of epidemics in the world is the consumption of low quality water. These are all facts published by the World Health Organisation. The problem of water supplies for irrigation is growing, while a food crisis is unfolding as we speak. It has gripped almost half the world, country by country. “Why is he saying all these things?”, you might think. “It’s an important event and yet Gorbachev talks about such things.” I think I’m right to say them, believe me. We cannot panic and we cannot give up, because history is not fatal, it is always possible to deploy alternative solutions, but we must never fall into extremes. We have to be realistic and implement sound strategy and policies on a regional, national and global scale.

Only by working together can we hope to solve the problems I spoke about. No one country or even group of countries can do this. That means that we must respect what we have, and improve and reform. We have been talking about reforming the UN into something which could be used as the foundation for building a system to govern global processes in a global world for around 15 to 20 years. I participated in two commissions at home and heard many things, including the fact that the UN has run its course, down with international law, down with national borders, and down with everything that limits the strong. America is dominated by the view that as the world is so complicated, we cannot offer anything that would allow it to be managed, so let’s allow history to determine the future. That is social Darwinism and the peoples will not accept that. Everybody knows that. Force cannot be used to solve this issue, as is the case with the worrying problem for all of us: international terrorism. That is because international terrorism is rooted in something else: poverty, deprivation and humiliation of peoples, a fundamentalism that incites people to such terrible actions. This means that we must solve this problem using different methods, policies, diplomacy and deal with social problems, as well as helping people in other parts of the world attain a decent level of human development. I think all of us, politicians, economists, lawyers and hauliers, must understand the world in which we live and what we need to do for the sake of all of us. We must have this understanding because without public opinion, without the influence of public opinion and civil institutions on politics and business, we cannot embark on the right course of development. We simply can’t do it.

Allow me to conclude with the following remarks: a transition to a new, fairer and safer world order requires leadership, and this is something that people are talking about. Responsible states with potential and their leaders must take up this leadership role. I refer to both the European Union and other Western countries, but this will require Western societies to change their attitude towards the rest of the world. The responsible states with potential, which must play a leading role in building a new world order, include India, China, Brazil and Russia, and their role in international politics and establishing constructive international cooperation will continue to grow. Without doubt, the United States can and do aspire to be a leader in this process. During a discussion with Henry Kissinger, we, both Americans and representatives of all other continents, agreed that America is a powerful country and has the right to seek global leadership, but this must be on the basis of partnership, not global rule by means of force. That is the issue. Without solving this problem, we cannot create an international system to manage the affairs of the world.

I have tried to draw your attention to the problems and circumstances, which shape the context within which you, as everyone else, will have to conduct your business and solve the problems you have discussed today at the Congress. I would like to wish you success in your work once more. Thank you for your attention.

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