Sometimes people ask me why I began perestroika. Were the causes basically domestic or foreign? The domestic reasons were undoubtedly the main ones, but the danger of nuclear war was so serious that it was a no less significant factor.

You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!

Humankind has no option but to protect and live in harmony with its natural environment. However, it would be regrettable if in putting an end to revolutionary extremism, we should then come to environmental extremism. We should not forget that all extremes are the same.

Contemporary social democracy is what I believe is the right concept.

Man is beginning to explore the galaxy. But how much remains undone on earth?

For the first time ever, we have confronted in reality the sinister power of uncontrolled nuclear energy.

Without perestroika, the cold war simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace of nuclear war ever present.