Mikhail Gorbachev – not a prophet in his own country

Mikhail Gorbachev described as a “one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history” has died. Celebrated in the west for playing a critical role in ending the Cold War, he was blamed in Russia for the turbulence that his reforms unleashed – glasnost (“openness”) allowing for freedom of speech and perestroika (“restructuring decentralizing economic decision-making “) –  and the sharp drop in the standard of living domestically. BBC bro