Gorbachev warns against rapid globalization

November 7, 2005

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that rapid without governance has led to a growing gap between the world's rich and poor. He has also asserted that global cooperation is needed to address problems such as poverty, terrorism and environmental damage.

"We need new thinking for the new world," said Gorbachev during a speech last month at Miami University of Ohio in the United States. "You cannot make people happy by using tanks and missiles."

Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991, has been credited with ending the Cold War. As Soviet leader, he implemented wide-ranging political and economic reforms. However, his reforms have been blamed for inadvertently causing the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

In 1993, Gorbachev founded the, of which he was one of three major sponsors of the.