Rodric Braithwaite

Glasnost merely confirmed Russia’s deep-seated suspicion of democracy

Though initially wildly popular, Mikhail Gorbachev proved a ‘hapless captain’ whose tinkerings only led to further disaster, says Vladislav Zubok

Mikhail Gorbachev. [Getty Images]
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  • Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

    Vladislav M. Zubok

    Yale, pp. 544, £25

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The Laos methanol poisonings shine a light on a deeper tragedy

The death of British lawyer Simone White, 28, and five other tourists as a result of a suspected mass poisoning in Laos has rightly cast a spotlight on the serious methanol problem with which poorer parts of Southeast Asia are grappling. But that shouldn’t be allowed to obscure what was almost certainly another critical factor

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