Problems facing the 21st century were the topic of a speech given by Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, at Mershon Auditorium yesterday.
Ohio State President Karen A. Holbrook; Joseph A. Alutto, dean of the Fisher College of Business; John W. Berry, senior chair in the Fisher College of Business; and Alec Baechle, a former graduate from the Fisher College of Business, welcomed and introduced Gorbachev. Max Fisher and Les Wexner were also in attendance.
Gorbachev began his speech focusing on Russia’s transition to a democratic country and the “new choices” the people in Russia face.
Gorbachev went on to discuss the challenges of the global world.
“A lot of the world today is worried today, there is a lot of concern,” Gorbachev said. “Worry is typical of many people today. This is regardless of where they live.”
Gorbachev said he gathered this information from traveling around the world and speaking at renowned universities such as Harvard.
“We are not ready to operate in a global world, but we are living in a global world, a world that took us by surprise,” Gorbachev said.
He described the world as being in a clash.
The main bulk of the former president’s speech focused on three issues – security and stability, poverty and environmental problems.
“Without security and stability, the other issues are pointless,” Gorbachev said.
He said half the human population of lives on $1 or $2 a day.
“They are living in despair. They don’t have much to lose. This is what terrorist groups seek to exploit,” Gorbachev said.
Gorbachev voiced his concerns for the environment.
“If we live as before, in 40-50 years we will see irreversible changes. We cannot carry on business as usual,” Gorbachev said. “We have replaced sustainable development with free trade. The poor have become poorer. These problems can not be dismissed.”
In 1990, Gorbachev was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievements with perestroika (governmental restructuring) and glasnost (political openness).
In 1992, after the end of his presidency, Gorbachev became president of the Gorbachev Foundation, known as the International Foundation for Socioeconomic and Political Studies. Its purpose is to present and to address the challenges of the post-Cold War world.
In 1993, Gorbachev founded Green Cross International, an environmental organization with a mission to clean up military toxins, assist in the creation of global ecological law, and foster a shift on the environment. The organization is non-governmental with chapters in the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland.
To conclude his speech, Gorbachev called for scientists, Nobel Peace Prize winners and global leaders to come together to create a new world order.
“We can change the world by a common sense solution,” Gorbachev said.
To uphold his judgement he said the words used by former U.S. president John F. Kennedy.
“Peace for all or we will have no peace at all.”
