After Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union, he reformed the Soviet Union, and in the 1980s, Gorbachev's reforms were touted by the West, which saw the opportunity to disintegrate the Soviet Union. However, Gorbachev believed that his theory was recognized by the West, so Gorbachev compiled his reform "theory" into a book and published it, earning a large amount of money.
When we mention the collapse of the Soviet Union, what cannot be circumvented is Gorbachev's "new thinking." Those who study Soviet history will step on Gorbachev's "new thinking", which they believe is the culprit of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
So what exactly is Gorbachev's "new thinking"? Why is it criticized by posterity?
The so-called "new thinking" is actually "new political thinking", that is, when Gorbachev was on the stage, he and his staff concocted a set of measures to reform the Soviet Union. These include how the Soviet Union treated war and peace, the changes in surnames and surnames and the relationship between capital and society, how the Soviet Union resolved the various contradictions and conflicts it faced, etc. to rethink and position, and proposed the latest research solutions.
The "new thinking" that the outside world calls usually refers to Gorbachev's proposed measures to solve international problems, and some people think that Gorbachev proposed diplomatic measures on how to interact with countries. But it's actually much bigger than diplomacy.
Gorbachev was very fond of his "new thinking", which he considered to be his innovative theory, and constantly called it "new political thinking". However, this statement is mainly that on January 15, 1986, Gorbachev first proposed "new political thinking" in the "Statement on the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons", in which he said: "We must adopt a bold attitude and carry out new political thinking ...".
Before Gorbachev came to power, he also put forward the terms "modern economic thinking" and "new political thinking", which he put forward during his visit to Britain in December 1984, and in his speech to the British Parliament, he proposed: "The nuclear age will inevitably give people a new way of thinking", that is, to prevent nuclear war.
One of the key arguments of Gorbachev's "new thinking" is the "humane democratic socialism" he advocated, and he believed that the survival interests of mankind in the nuclear age were above all else, in fact, the Soviet nuclear deterrence was abolished, similar to Khrushchev's method. He also considered international relations to be "humane and democratic."
From the perspective of the main theme of "new thinking", in fact, the premise of Gorbachev's "new thinking" is how human beings can survive in the nuclear age. In fact, this is not the first time Gorbachev proposed, as early as the 1950s, Einstein put forward the idea that "human beings must survive with a new way of thinking". After Khrushchev came to power, after the "Cuban Missile Crisis", he also put forward such views. It can be seen that Gorbachev's "new thinking" is not new, just "old wine in a new bottle", which sounds very fresh, in fact, Gorbachev integrated some of the theories of predecessors.
"New thinking" is not a profound theory, strictly speaking, it is not called a theory, but just some reform measures. It is some of his ideas and methods for solving domestic and international problems.
Gorbachev believed that in order to accelerate social and economic development in the Soviet Union, it was necessary to carry out comprehensive reforms with economic structural reform and social democratization as the core. It is also necessary to make adjustments in international strategy and diplomacy.
As we said earlier, Gorbachev's "new thinking" is not his original creation, but only a theory formed by synthesizing his previous statements, but how did he give a "new" concept?
Gorbachev wanted to make the "new thinking" his own, and he could not let people say that it was plagiarism, so he gave many explanations.
First, Gorbachev believed that "new thinking" was to raise civilization to a new level, not a simple change of position, but a change in the way of dealing with international affairs.
Second, Gorbachev believes that the implementation of "new thinking" is to let people conduct a strict analysis of the objective situation and formulate effective measures. He believed that "new thinking" was not a question of the rights and interests of the Development of the Soviet Union, but a principle that political theory must follow. In terms of the principle of ascension, this laid the foundation for Gorbachev's administration thereafter.
Third, Gorbachev believed that the basis of "new thinking" was humanitarian thought, and he believed that the value of all mankind was above all else. He believes that nuclear war cannot be a means of solving any problem. The United States is most pleased with this formulation. Gorbachev abandoned nuclear deterrence, and even since then Gorbachev has continued to reduce nuclear weapons, while the United States has not decreased. However, the so-called survival interests of people and peace all rely on strength, and peace cannot be achieved without strength.
Fourth, Gorbachev believed that new thinking was the "philosophy" of action, and once again advocated that this was a theory and was connected with the objective process of the world. The West believes that reality and interests need to be balanced, and the West cannot take international relations as their starting point. The formulation is good, but how can the West come according to Gorbachev's wishes.
Gorbachev's "new thinking", which we see through the Chinese translation, has some very profound words. But after reading it carefully, there is nothing new. He prides himself on inheriting Lenin's theory. But then Gorbachev surrendered to imperialism. No wonder some people were dissatisfied with Gorbachev afterwards. The theory he put forward himself actually ended up abandoning himself.
At the beginning of the promotion of Gorbachev's "new thinking", it was well received internationally and domestically. The domestic people thought that Gorbachev would be able to lead them to a bright future, but it became a paper. No wonder posterity does not have a high evaluation.
As we said earlier, Gorbachev's "new thinking" was not his original creation, and the former leaders of the Soviet Union proposed that he only integrated. For example, he inherited some ideas and viewpoints from the Khrushchev period and summarized and refined them.
Moreover, Gorbachev further systemized the reforms that did not come out of the system during the Andropov period. And Gorbachev also absorbed some Western views.
Gorbachev also inherited the Brezhnev period's "theory of détente", arguing that the East and the West should communicate and ease. And that's exactly what the United States is doing. The purpose of the U.S. détente was to disintegrate the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, by détenteing with the West, wanted to exchange for a lot of investment.
But Gorbachev also rejected some of Brezhnev's formulations, such as the "theory of limited sovereignty", that the Soviet Union could determine the fate of the Warsaw Pact countries. But Gorbachev believed that the Warsaw Pact countries should have independent and autonomous powers.
Gorbachev also rejected Brezhnev's "international dictatorship" and the socialist family. Brezhnev held that the big socialist family cannot be separated and that it is necessary to engage in economic, military, and diplomatic integration. It is to maintain the "paternalistic" approach to the Warsaw Pact countries. After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, some believe that this is caused by Gorbachev's "new thinking" theory.
Although Gorbachev's proposal is similar to Brezhnev's view of détente, it is in line with Khrushchev's "three harmonies" (peaceful coexistence, peaceful competition, and peaceful transition). But Gorbachev's blind quest for peace also led to the irreversible reforms that followed, eventually leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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