Conversation with Jeffrey Sachs: “I Anticipated an Era of Peace and an End to the Cold War”

Abstract

In the 1980s and 1990s, American economist Jeffrey Sachs advised the teams of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin on economic reforms. The interview discusses key aspects of the economic and political crisis in the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev’s role in ending the Cold War, as well as the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union for the system of international relations. The expert highlights the structural problems of the Soviet economy: the priority of the development of the military-industrial complex, dependence on raw materials, technological lag and lack of market mechanisms. It is emphasized that the collapse of the USSR was not predetermined, but was the result of a combination of long-term factor (economic stagnation) and short-term crises (the Chernobyl accident, falling oil prices, perestroika). Special attention is paid to the assessment of Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership qualities: despite the negative consequences of his reforms for the USSR, he is presented as a peacemaker who prevented a nuclear conflict. However, according to J. Sachs, representatives of Western countries only continued their policy of weakening Russia in the 1990s. The article analyzes the unsuccessful implementation of economic reforms in post-Soviet countries related to the geopolitical confrontation, the lack of Western support and the weakness of the Russian leadership under Yeltsin. In conclusion, the problem of the crisis of the unipolar world and the prospects for the transition to multipolarity are considered. The author criticizes the US policy and proposes reforms to strengthen international law. BRICS and regional associations based on the principles of subsidiarity and respect for sovereignty are named as alternative platforms for dialogue.