World Leaders Mourn Soviet Reformist Gorbachev |
Mikhail Gorbachev, who presided over the end of the Cold War and was the last leader of the Soviet Union, died yesterday (CNN) at the age of ninety-one. He oversaw arms control agreements (NYT) with the United States and attempted to modernize the Soviet Union. U.S. and European leaders praised Gorbachev’s legacy. U.S. President Joe Biden called Gorbachev “a man of remarkable vision,” and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that Gorbachev’s messages on building peace and resisting imperialism are timely in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has called the demise of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century, offered condolences and noted Gorbachev’s “huge impact on the course of world history.” Gorbachev’s economic reforms were criticized by some Russians, who blamed him (Moscow Times) for the country’s loss of power following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
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“Mikhail Gorbachev’s life shows little in history is inevitable. The Cold War did not have to end when & how it did, peacefully & favorably to the West. What is tragic is how over the next 30 years what he bequeathed at home & abroad was squandered. This too was not inevitable,” CFR President Richard Haass tweets.
“It was misguided Soviet economic policies and a series of political missteps by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that caused the country to self-destruct. And Putin has learned a great deal from the Soviet collapse, managing to avoid the financial chaos that doomed the Soviet state despite intense sanctions,” the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Vladislav Zubok writes in Foreign Affairs.
At this 2019 event, CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich, former U.S. arms control director Kenneth L. Adelman, and former U.S. ambassador Rozanne L. Ridgway discussed Gorbachev’s legacy on arms control. |
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Taiwan Shoots at Chinese Drone |
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Sri Lanka, IMF Reportedly Set to Make Staff-Level Deal |
The deal would set the stage for an emergency International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan for the country. It is expected to be announced today, Reuters reported.
Pakistan: The United Nations is seeking $160 million (AP) in emergency funding to assist people affected by Pakistan’s record-breaking floods. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked China and Turkey (Dawn) for their first shipments of aid, which included tents and food. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Rights Group: Saudi Woman Given Forty-Five Years in Jail for Twitter Activity |
The Washington-based group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) said Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced (The Guardian) for “using the internet to tear [Saudi Arabia’s] social fabric.”
Israel: A court sentenced (WaPo) World Vision International’s former Gaza aid chief to twelve years in prison on charges of diverting money to Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip. The aid organization said its own investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing. |
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Air Strike Hits Capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region |
Tigrayan fighters and hospital officials said the strike hit around midnight (AFP) local time. It came after fighting shattered a five-month truce in Ethiopia’s conflict between Tigrayan rebels and government forces. There were no immediate details on casualties.
South Africa: A court ruled that a bank can seize former President Jacob Zuma’s assets to repay loans he owes the bank, the Daily Maverick reported. |
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WHO: Monkeypox Outbreak Could Be Slowing in Europe |
The senior emergency officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) called for caution and additional efforts to reduce transmission even as cases appear to have peaked in the region. She attributed the decline (Politico) in cases to engagement across LGBTQ+ communities where transmission is highest and public health interventions. At this virtual roundtable, Anne Rimoin and CFR’s Luciana L. Borio discuss the global monkeypox outbreak. |
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Mexico Registers Increase in Violence Against Women |
A survey by Mexico’s statistics office found that more than 70 percent of women and girls reported experiencing (Reuters) some kind of violence, a 4 percent increase from a previous survey in 2016.
Saint Kitts and Nevis: A Caribbean regional court struck down (AP) the country’s colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex, saying it was unconstitutional.
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U.S. Life Expectancy Falls for Second Year in a Row |
Americans’ life expectancy in 2021 dropped (WaPo) to approximately seventy-six years, nearly one year less than life expectancy in 2020. The biggest decline was among Native Americans, whose life expectancy fell two years, to sixty-five. |
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