Mikhail Gorbachev: What Is at Stake Now

1 Title page Mikhail Gorbachev What Is at Stake Now My Appeal for Peace and Freedom Translated by Jessica Spengler polity

2 Copyright page

3 Preface

4 Part I Our Shared Security The Militarization of World Politics Equal Security for All: The Charter of Paris We Must Act Together

5 Part II: Understanding the Global World Who Benefits from Globalization? The Environmental Challenge The Earth Charter

6 Part III: Ideas and Politics The Wave of Populism and Decline of Democracy Can Politics and Morals Be Reconciled?

7 Part IV: Who’s Who in the Global World? The USA: Monopoly Leadership or Partnership? Europe: Our Continent, Our Home China and India: The New Giants The Middle East: Tense Hub of World Politics The Rollback of Democracy The Responsibility of the Media Civil Society and International Organizations The New Russia Afterword End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Contents

3 The Militarization of World Politics

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Translated by Jessica Spengler

polity

Originally published in German as WAS JETZT AUF DEM SPIEL STEHT. Mein Aufruf für Frieden und Freiheit , by Mikhail Gorbachev ©2019 by Siedler Verlag, a division of Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH, München, Germany.

This English edition © 2020 by Polity Press

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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4321-2

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931- author.

Title: What is at stake now : my appeal for peace and freedom / Mikhail Gorbachev ; translated by Jessica Spengler.

Other titles: Was jetzt auf dem Spiel steht. English

Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A major new statement on the key challenges of global politics by one of the greatest statesmen of our time”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020006726 (print) | LCCN 2020006727 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509543212 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509543236 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Globalization. | International relations. | International cooperation. | World politics--21st century. | Liberty. | Security, International.

Classification: LCC JZ1319 .G6713 2020 (print) | LCC JZ1319 (ebook) | DDC 327--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006726

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006727

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Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Limited

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This book is called What Is at Stake Now and it deals with nothing less than the future of the global world. Is that not presumptuous? After all, who can say where humanity is heading?

The predictions made one hundred or even just twenty years ago may elicit nothing but smiles of bewilderment today. But I do not want to make any predictions in this book. Instead, I want to reflect on how we are behaving today, what we are striving for and what we should avoid if we hope to preserve our world for future generations.

I am very concerned by the current events, developments and plans of which I have recently become aware.

In January 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which is published in Chicago and has gauged the danger of nuclear war since 1945, moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock ahead by nearly half a minute. Symbolically speaking, it is now 100 seconds to midnight – we are 100 seconds away from war. The situation has not been this dire since 1953.

We live in a globalized world, but we have not yet understood it or learned how to get along together in it. This realization has occupied me for a long time. We often do not notice the dangers lying in wait for us until it is too late. And when we do finally recognize them, we do not dare to act. We have not learned the art of partnership and cooperation, and politics often lags behind the rapid changes in the world.

I was politically active at a time when my country and the whole world were ripe for colossal changes. We took on the challenges. We made mistakes and misjudged some things. Yet we initiated changes of historic dimensions, and they were peaceful. I think this gives me the right to reflect on the future, too, and to share my thoughts with you, dear readers.

I hope this book inspires you to think and act yourselves – because, ultimately, all of us together are responsible for the future of the global world.

World politics is moving in an extremely dangerous direction. Militaristic and destructive tendencies are on the rise. The system for nuclear arms limitation is being dismantled. The decision of the United States to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on the elimination of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles was a major blow to the world’s security.