Gorbachev, locally, thinks globally

By Robert Weisman

Twenty years after he carried out his perestroika reforms, which lifted the Iron Curtain and helped to end the Cold War, the man who once led the Soviet empire yesterday appealed to Massachusetts software executives to strike partnerships with a new generation of high-tech companies in his economically struggling country.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the 74-year-old former president of the Soviet Union, arrived at Boston's Copley Marriott ballroom to the strains of the Russian national anthem and a standing ovation from about 750 people -- the largest crowd ever for a Massachusetts Software Council event -- that included Boston's mayor and state legislative leaders.
He drew several rounds of applause from the rapt audience during a rambling 50-minute keynote speech that was, by turns, a defense of his legacy, a call for greater economic cooperation between the United States and Russia, a critique of American foreign policy, and a warning against what he said were efforts to marginalize his country.
'Russia will not accept a position of junior partner," Gorbachev insisted, speaking in Russian translated to the group by an interpreter. 'Partnerships are equal. I believe the future of our countries is to work together toward building a secure, just, and democratic world order."
Gorbachev's appearance, at the behest of the Russoft trade group of Russian software firms, was a coup for the Massachusetts Software Council's spring meeting. The council's gatherings have been addressed in the past by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, Digital Equipment founder Ken Olsen, and other leaders of the American technology industry, but never by a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
Anticipation built throughout the morning program as council members heard from representatives of eight Russian and Ukrainian outsourcing companies that have set up shop in New England, while organizers tracked the progress of Gorbachev's flight from Toronto.
Just before 9:15 a.m., council president Joyce Plotkin rushed into the back of the ballroom pumping her cellphone over her head. 'That's Gorbachev," she announced. 'He's on the ground."
Forty-five minutes later, Gorbachev entered the room, flanked by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Senate President Robert Travaglini, and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi. But there were another 15 minutes of welcomes, introductions, and the presentation of gifts -- including a 'gurgling cod," modeled on the Sacred Cod at the state House of Representatives -- before Gorbachev stepped to the podium and complained that he had left his favorite hat in Toronto.
'I understand the applause was not entirely for me," he said, poker-faced. 'You stood up because you were tired of sitting."
Citing the emergence of technology office parks in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities, Gorbachev said the volume of Russian software exports totaled about 0 million in 2004, a 50 percent increase from the previous year. 'The Russian society is ready to make a breakthrough and take its place in the post-industrial economy," he said. 'And this opportunity should not be missed."
Joseph Feiman, vice president and research director for the Gartner Group research firm in Stamford, Conn., who also spoke at yesterday's event, said Russian outsourcing companies are strong at engineering and application development but weak at business process outsourcing -- a niche dominated by Indian companies. Feiman said the Russians also face competition from 'external service providers" in China, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Israel, and South Africa.
Most of Gorbachev's remarks concerned global affairs, and he balanced fond recollections of his summits with President Reagan with criticism of the US-led war in Iraq and the expansion of capitalism at the expense of developing countries. 'Democracy cannot be imposed by arms or missiles," Gorbachev declared. And he appealed to US businesses to help build up poorer nations. 'Let us think about future generations," he said. 'Let us think not only about maximizing profits."
At a private reception after the meeting, Gorbachev beamed when Michele DesAutels, a Microsoft manager in Waltham, told him that she and her husband -- former Peace Corps volunteers -- were the first Americans married in Uzbekistan after Gorbachev's reforms allowed Westerners to work in that country.
But the ex-Soviet chief looked startled when Mikko-Jussi Suonenlahti, a partner in the 3i venture firm in Waltham, placed a Red Sox cap on Gorbachev's head to replace the hat he'd left in Canada. A crowd of business people snapped away with their digital cameras.

Boston Globe, April 13, 2005