‘America Needs A Perestroika’ — Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev (Reuters / Hannibal Hanschke )

The United States needs reforms similar to those during Perestroika in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev told RT's Sophie Shevardnadze. The former Soviet leader also spoke about Washington’s policy of pressure and intervention into conflicts.

Gorbachev stressed the need for political and economic reforms in the US, saying “they need a Perestroika” (translated from Russian as “restructuring”), referring to the political movement carried out during his rule in the 1980s.

“They can call it any name they want, the American way,” he said, adding that “Americans do not want a war. But it is not easy for them, with the society that they have.”

The US uses tensions and instability to intervene into a conflict, then creates an enemy to enable their “policy of pressure” and shift responsibility, he said.

“Whenever tensions are high, whenever there’s instability in a certain country or throughout the region, it’s an opportunity for [the US] to intervene,” said Gorbachev.

“I am quite familiar with this policy from my own experience,” added the former Soviet leader. Gorbachev has come into the spotlight in recent months, warning Western and Russian leaders against dragging the world into a new Cold War amid the Ukraine crisis.

During his interview with RT, Gorbachev explained that there were always two sides to the conflict in the 20th century – “one was supported by the United States, and the other by the Soviet Union.”

“The US needs an enemy in order to return to their old policy of pressure. They can’t live without it. They are still enslaved by their old policy,” he elaborated.

Speaking on the Ukraine crisis, he said that the current situation is similar, with the US looking for “some pretext to interfere...they need an enemy figure, and they are doing it again.”