Background :
Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev passed away recently at the age of 91 after suffering from a long and protracted illness.
About :
Mikhail Gorbachev was a voice of sanity in a crazy cold war world, and his death marks the end of a particular era in 20th century history. During his time as leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991), Gorbachev brought about enormous change in Russian politics and society, in international relations, and in the global ideological struggle.
He highlighted the dangers of nuclear weapons, the growing environmental catastrophe, and the need to make socialism relevant in an increasingly globalised capitalist world.
Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye in southern Russia in 1931 and his family were victims of Stalinist repression. Gorbachev’s experiences during the great patriotic war (second world war) and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union greatly influenced his world view.
He was also influenced by the Czechoslovakian communist Alexander Dubček who introduced significant reforms in his country during the Prague Spring of 1968.
He Ended the Cold War
When considering which of the 1980s’ big three leaders – Gorbachev, US president Ronald Reagan and UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher – was most important in ending the cold war peacefully, the answer is clearly Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev.
His meeting with Thatcher in 1984 saw her declare that he was a man she “could do business with”, and she encouraged Reagan to meet the Soviet leader. A number of high-profile summit meetings took place and a relationship of trust between the two superpower leaders developed.
Talks soured over the two nations’ nuclear and defence capabilities, but Gorbachev restarted negotiations and continued to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons. He helped bring Reagan to the point where he would declare, while standing in Moscow’s Red Square in 1988, that the USSR was no longer an “evil empire”.
The most astonishing turn of events began in December that year when Gorbachev told a meeting of the UN General Assembly that he was planning to remove hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops and thousands of tanks from Soviet-occupied eastern Europe.
Previous Soviet leaders had sent tanks in to shore up Kremlin-backed dictatorships, but Gorbachev concluded that the USSR had “no right, moral or political, to interfere in events” there. The military move out of eastern Europe was hugely significant in paving the way for eastern European countries to become independent.
His Reforms
Gorbachev introduced significant reforms – perestroika (restructuring), glasnost (openness) – and these were designed to save the Soviet Union and make life better for Soviet citizens whose living standards were declining. His foreign policy also sought to improve relations between east and west and to end the nuclear arms race.
Fall of Berlin Wall
Germans were certainly grateful to Gorbachev and the role he played in helping to unify their country. Previously East Germany had been separated from West Germany by a wall or fence with security posts, and people were shot trying to escape. The end of Soviet rule in eastern Europe was a powerful reminder that nothing lasts forever. And this included the Soviet Union itself.
Collapse of USSR
Gorbachev allowed Soviet citizens to find their voice in the 1980s, and they used their collective power to criticise the government and non-Russians built powerful independence movements. These grew quickly and they helped to sweep Gorbachev, his reform process, and ultimately the Soviet Union, away.
The Baltic states first called for more autonomy and then for the right to secede from the USSR. Other republics including Ukraine followed this call. Wider protests across the Soviet Union destabilised the country and the once sure-footed Gorbachev ordered the army in to lead bloody clampdowns of nationalist meetings in Georgia and Lithuania.
Dozens of people died in these clashes. Gorbachev realised that he had to renegotiate the relationship between Russia and the other republics. But the New Union Treaty spooked communist hardliners so much that they led a coup and removed him from power while he was on holiday in the Crimea. On December 25, he resigned as Soviet leader.
Putin vs Gorbachev
Gorbachev didn’t agree with current Russian leader Vladimir Putin on various policies including the invasion of Ukraine, and he was a public critic of the president. In his 2016 book The New Russia, Gorbachev wrote that Putin’s “current policies are an obstacle to progress”.
For Putin, Gorbachev was a weak leader who initiated the “biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” – the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin would not want to be seen giving a national honour to someone who he blamed for weakening Russia, especially as Gorbachev is still lauded as a hero in the west.
Inside Russia, Gorbachev is less popular than in the west, and seen as the instigator of the problems they experienced in the chaotic, troubled 1990s when crime rose, there was mass unemployment and many people lost their money after banks suddenly closed.
His mixed legacy was highlighted well in an advert he made for Pizza Hut.
However, Gorbachev’s willingness to talk to his political enemies and to negotiate with those who saw the world differently to him was as powerful a message in the 1980s as it is now. And this is why Mikhail Gorbachev must be remembered as one of the most significant political leaders of the 20th century.
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.