Political leaders still think things can be done through force, but that cannot solve terrorism. Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight.

I paid too heavy a price for perestroika.

I think the United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness, the disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself from this disease.

Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.

The model of the consumer society is something that will one day end. My personal view is that too much consumption is wrong.

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.

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