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"19 August 1991: the day that brought down the USSR," headlines La Tribune de Genève, which points out that exactly 20 years ago, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev fell victim to one "one of the worst prepared coups d’état in history, which paradoxically had an enormous impact on the course of world events."
"Just a few months later, Gorbachev resigned,” explains the editorial of the Swiss daily, which notes that "it is tempting to draw parallels between the Arab Spring and the fall of communism. In each case there was a surge in the aspiration for freedom in an ossified political system. The end of the Soviet era and the Arab revolutions both gave the impression that history had been suddenly reawakened after a prolonged ice age."
Finally the Swiss daily examines differing perceptions of the last Soviet leader in the west and in the former USSR: “They do not perceive Gorbachev to be a hero for the cause of freedom, as we do. Today, we do not perceive the Muslim Brotherhood, who are mobilising in Cairo, to be a genuine force for freedom. Is there perhaps a lesson from history here?”
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