Che Guevara Is Dead … and So Is Gorbachev

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, September 3

When Che Guevara, the famous Marxist revolutionary, died, Egypt’s Sheikh Imam wrote and composed a song in his honor titled “Guevara Died.” The song was an elegy for a man who devoted his life to the fight against colonialism and imperialist capitalist thought. Two days ago, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, died. Unlike Che Guevara, no one sang for him. Even if Sheikh Imam was still living among us, it is hard to imagine that he would have dedicated a song to Gorbachev. And if he did, it would have been no less satirical than the song he once dedicated to Nixon, “Nixon Baba,” which was full of mockery and disdain. But why? The reason may be the final Gorbachev effect. Whereas Lenin was the first leader of the USSR, Gorbachev was the last. Lenin and Stalin built a great empire that represented one-sixth of the world. In contrast, Gorbachev demolished that empire in just a few years. In his early years, Gorbachev was a tractor operator. He then studied law at Moscow State University and entered politics after his graduation. He soon rose to the helm of the Communist Party and became first party secretary in Stavropol Krai. In that role, he succeeded in improving the basic standard of living for workers. In 1979, Gorbachev became the youngest member of the Politburo. He was elected as the general secretary of the Communist Party by the Politburo in 1985 and aimed to bring change and reform to the party and the state economy by introducing the concepts of openness, economic restructuring, and democracy. He tried to increase the efficiency of the Soviet bureaucracy, introduced many technical developments aimed at increasing productivity and reducing the amount of waste, and launched an anti-alcohol campaign. He was also elected president of the Soviet Union in 1988 after winning 59% of the votes of the Council’s deputies. During his presidency, Gorbachev stressed the importance of peaceful international relations; not only playing a pivotal role in ending the Cold War but also playing a key role in facilitating the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. His two key policies were glasnost, a policy of maximum openness and transparency, and perestroika, which described the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system. It wasn’t comfortable for Gorbachev to attempt to establish new economic, social, and political systems. His series of changes ultimately ended with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which paved the way for American dominance. After stepping down, Gorbachev disappeared from the public sphere until 1997, when he made a reappearance in a commercial to promote the American Pizza Hut chain. This came as a great shock, given the fact that the chain represents a consumerist Western culture that contradicts the principles of Soviet socialism. The advertisement wasn’t just propaganda, but rather a declaration of the victory of capitalism over socialism. The old Gorbachev appeared in the advertisement as he accompanied his grandson to eat pizza in one of the restaurants of the American company, a symbol of Western imperialism, which represents the success of the West in imposing its cultural hegemony. In the advertisement, the presence of the old man sparked a controversy among the restaurant’s patrons, with some speaking against Gorbachev’s political actions, and others lauding them. After that, Gorbachev received a good number of offers to shoot additional commercials, and he participated in a number of them in order to earn money. However, his legacy within Russia remained controversial at best, and he remained a polarizing political figure until his death. – Abdul Latif Al-Manawi (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)