HIST 410N Week 7 Case Study 6: Mikhail Gorbachev 1988 UN Speech

HIST 410N Week 7 Case Study 6: Mikhail Gorbachev 1988 UN Speech If the pace of improving US-Soviet relations seemed rapid, Mikhail Gorbachev's speech to the United Nations General Assembly would shift the process into overdrive. In this remarkable oration, which you can find by clicking on the link below, Gorbachev emphatically declared that all nations must have the freedom to choose their own destiny, that ideology had no place in foreign affairs, and that great powers should renounce the use of force in international relations. Review his speech and answer in essay form the following questions: Why did Gorbachev choose the United Nations as his forum for this speech? The purpose of Mikhail Gorbachev’s speech is the reason he chose to present it at the General Assembly at the United Nations in 1988. Gorbachev’s purpose was to relay a message to not just his people but instead to a wide audience of leaders from around the world. It was important to change the reputation of the Soviet Union and in my opinion, it was a very fitting place to do so or at the very least start working on rebuilding and forming new relationships with nations surrounding the Soviet Union as well as other nations. From the Very beginning of the speech you can observe the intent Gorbachev wants to drive home. In mentioning two revolutions one of the French Revolution in 1789 and one that includes his own nation, the Russian revolution of 1917 his point is to refer to what has been acceptable and the lasting affects of those nations going through necessary changes they as a country deemed important and substantial enough to enforce radical changes. Next, he connects his audience to the present by stating when it is accepted and allowed for revolutions to take place that is good but in the world in which they lived in now constitutes new and diverse ways, in Gorbachev’s own words: “it is necessary to seek different roads toward the future…”. Lastly, I would also mention that Gorbachev chose the UN audience because it wasn’t enough to talk about changing the reputation of the Soviet Union but that actions needed to be in line with the new vision for the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was looking for support and collaboration and speaking before this audience if he did well could do just that. When Gorbachev said: “Today we have entered an era when progress will be based on the interest of all mankind”. Also, he ties in his speech another key point on why others should be interested in assisting the Soviet Union and what they could possibly receive because they assisted when he stated: “Further world progress is now possible only through the search for a consensus of all mankind, in movement toward a new world order”.