John Milburn."Gorbachev says United States can''t solve world''s problems alone"

     MANHATTAN, Kan. - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev warned Friday that no one nation can lead the world through rapid change and globalization, though the United States must balance its desires to shape those solutions.
     "The United States has a right to play a leadership role, but this leadership shouldn't be exercised through domination but through partnership with other nations," Gorbachev said. "If things are bad in the world, they are bad for everyone."
     Speaking to an overflow crowd of more than 2,000 at Kansas State University, Gorbachev presented the 105th Landon Lecture, where he mixed a history lesson with a dose of concern for the challenges that face the world.
     Gorbachev, 74, was president of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His ratification of disarmament agreements, along with perestroika and glasnost, a policy of government openness, helped bring down Communist rule in Eastern Europe.
     In 1993 he Nobel Peace Prize winner founded Green Cross International, an environmental advocacy group that promotes global interdependence.
     His lecture was part of a speaking tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gorbachev's reforms that helped restructure the Soviet economy in the 1980s. Gorbachev is on his second trip to the United States this year.
     Gorbachev spoke of the changes that occurred in the Soviet Union with the deaths of three presidents in rapid succession, which paved the way for his presidency in 1985. He said the climate was right for change, with Communist Party leaders and many citizens realizing the nation was lagging behind the rest of the world.
     "Our society was demanding change. It was in the air at all times then," Gorbachev said.
Though other Soviet leaders talked of reforms, Gorbachev said, those rulers always halted change when it became clear that the system had to change as well. The key to his vision was his realization that the Soviet system had to change for life to improve, he said.
     His policies of perestroika and glasnost opened government and society to democratic reforms, he said, creating hope for millions of oppressed people. However, a coup attempt in December 1991 derailed the path the Soviets had charted, including a new treaty decentralizing power, he said.
Gorbachev said the former Soviet Union faced many challenges and that there has been much pain for the 15 republics that emerged, and he asked for patience from the rest of the world.
     "The United States took 200 years, and you want us to succeed in a day," Gorbachev said.
     He voiced support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the course he has charted. However, he questions whether ministers and parliament are up to the challenge to take Russia to the next level politically and economically.
     "We shouldn't waste any more time," he said.
     One of those challenges is not limited to Russia but affects the entire world. Gorbachev said 3 billion people live on less than a day, and 1 billion live on less than . As such, most of the world hasn't experienced the globalization that is enjoyed by Americans and Europeans.
That includes many in the Islamic world, he said. But Gorbachev said the United States and other nations must reach out to the Islamic community and remember that there are extremists in every religion.
     "The Islamic world requires understanding and respect," he said.
     Gorbachev will be in Lindsborg on Saturday to take part in Chess for Peace activities at Bethany College. He will appear at a chess match between Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar.
     Karpov, a seven-time world chess champion, established Chess for Peace to promote worldwide understanding and is a friend of Gorbachev's. Lindsborg is home to the Karpov International School of Chess.

The Kansas City Star, October 28, 2005