Eduard Shevardnadze and the End of the Cold War
Abstract
Eduard Shevardnadze served as Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union from July 1985 until December 1990. His tenure covered a period of momentous change in the USSR, as Mikhail Gorbachev and his friend and ally Shevardnadze initiated sweeping reforms to bring the Soviet Union into the modern era of government. Shevardnadze's long-standing personal relationship with Gorbachev and his own sweeping vision of what was needed to revitalize his ailing country afforded him a sphere of influence that went far beyond foreign policy. The new thinking exhibited by Gorbachev and Shevardnadze cleared the way for the easing of Cold War tensions and the effective end to the East-West rivalry that had dominated international relations from the end of World War II. No one can doubt that, for the West, the world is a safer, albeit less predictable, place thanks in good measure to the liberal and courageous vision of Shevardnadze and Gorbachev. No complete evaluation of Shevardnadze as a statesman is possible, however, without examining the benefits he brought to the people he was specifically charged to serve: the citizens of the (former) Soviet Union. This paper will thus briefly recap the statecraft of Eduard Shevardnadze -- his assumptions, objectives, and strategies -- and conclude with a discussion of his accomplishments on both sides of the former Iron Curtain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA442557
Entities
People
- Janet M. Weber
Organizations
- National War College