Michael:
> That's a huge change from 5 years ago, no? You used to say
> often that G was reviled in Russia and only respected by
> Westerners. Is he again a respected figure inside Russia
> today? Do people now associate him with Putin's restoration
> rather than thinking of him as Yeltsin's Wegbereiter?
It is possible that today's 'Westerners' who revile Gorbachev are former Russian residents who reviled Gorbachev a few years ago. I understand (Chriss correct me if it is wrong) that many Russians resent not just their own loss of income and social security but also the loss of international status by Russia, and blame the perestroika for that. These Russians are the core of out migration to the West, which is (or at least was) huge.
Wojtek