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Posted on 07/07/2014 2:24:10 AM PDT by WhiskeyX
Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has died aged 86, media reports say. Mr Shevardnadze became foreign minister of the Soviet Union in 1985. In 1992, he was appointed head of state of the newly independent republic of Georgia. He led the country out of instability and civil war but in November 2003 was toppled in the "Rose Revolution" sparked by opposition allegations of irregularities in parliamentary polls.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Eduard Shevardnadze: Georgia remembers Ronald Reagan ~ http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/11052.html
I meant to include the article.
Eduard Shevardnadze: Georgia remembers Ronald Reagan ~ http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/11052.html
16 February 2011 - 9:34am
Recently, the US and the whole world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ronald Reagan. In Georgia, the 40th president of America has always been respected and even admired.
Reagan played a significant role in the history of XXth century. He had ordinary personal skills and little political experience. However, his example proves the idea that a person can play crucial role in
history if he or she is managed to be the head of historic forces.
The former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, talked to VK about Reagan.
- What do you remember about Ronald Reagan?
- You know, before my first meeting with his I was told that Reagan hated the USSR and called it “empire of evil.” When we met he didn’t deny the fact that he thinks we were representatives of the
empire of evil. At the second meeting he laughed a lot and told funny stories. I asked him if he thought I was a representative of the empire of evil still. He said “No!”
- We all remember the historical meeting of Reagan and Gorbachev in 1986. The negotiations were called failed. You were a member of the Soviet delegation. Did the situation fail in reality?
- I remember this summit very well. It’s true, they didn’t agree about anything. However, I think that the meeting was an intellectual breakthrough in relations of the US and the USSR.
- How do you think is Reagan’s experience up-to-date, considering relations between Moscow and Washington?
- Times are different, as well as problems. I met with Reagan for 7 times. He was an interesting man who lived in proper times. An actor became a president.
- What was the key issue which Moscow and Washington managed to settle?
- Of course, the reunification of Germany. More specific questions were solved by foreign ministers.
- Thank you, Mr. Shevardnadze. We wish you good health...
- I am well!
- ... and 100 years to live.
- 100 years is not enough.
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I don’t think anybody else around here ever heard of this guy.
Who??? Reagan, or President Shevardnadze???
From what I recall, Shevardnadze knew what had to be done, what had to be sacrificed to achieve those goals...
Reagan, for what he could do was always in the passenger seat on this issue, and stepped up to recognize this effort at the appropriate time...
Yes, a lot of people probably do not remember a lot of this going on...But they are about to get an education...
I remember him as Gorbachev’s foreign minister. He was a leading figure on the world stage during Reagan’s presidency and the collapse of the USSR.
In the “death always comes in threes” concept, we now have Zamperini and Shevardnadze, and ... who next?
I guess it needs to be a four syllable name.
“I don’t think anybody else around here ever heard of this guy.”
Shevardnadze was the public face of the Soviet Union and then breakaway Georgia, so he is a very familiar face for those of us who kept up with the news of foreign affairs in earlier decades. Shevardnadze was often complementary of President Reagan in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
I have somewhat positive memories of Shevardnadze from what I saw. Beyond that, I don’t know.
Eduard Shevardnadze was probably the most pro-American senior Soviet official ever. Moreso even than Yeltsin. Him being foreing minister helped create the smooth transition whereby the former Communist East European countries left the Soviet orbit without bloodshed. He is one of the people (there are many others, Reagan and Bush I included) who deserves credit for that.
I was starting to feel old. This was in the Breaking News sidebar for three hours before anybody else had anything to say.
And now I find that I must have Alzheimer’s, because I really don’t remember Shevardnadze ending the Cold War while President Reagan had the good grace to stay out of the way and just give credit where credit is due, after the fact.
That’s the way I remember it too.
This thread has really made me feel old. Is there, maybe, another thread about Shevardnadze, with a healthy amount of comments from FReepers who remember the last couple decades of the 2nd millennium? Or is everybody busy talking about sports, celebrities and talk shows?
Well Reagan had his angles to exploit...And Shevardnadze was kinda like that burr under the saddle to the old USSR...
Andropov and Gorbachev were certainly caught with their stuff between two halves of that bun, and the world opinion was about ready to chow down...
They soon realized the PR battle was lost, and that they were not going to be able to put the Genie back into their bottle...
RIP.
I was unfamiliar with this guy’s pre-Independence life.
RIP.
Lord Jesus, rest Thy servant Eduard with the saints and bless Georgia.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.
Not his fault his name sounded like “Shriveled Nazi”...
I remember hearing his name a long time ago when I was a kid but I had no idea who he was.
Now I do. :)
Wikipedia has a pretty good article on Eduard Shevardnadze’ life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Shevardnadze
Note in particular George Soros’ involvement in Shevardnadze being removed from power in Georgia, tho’ to be fair, Shevardnadze’ own inability to keep corruption in his inner circle to tolerable levels was the major factor in his downfall...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Shevardnadze#Downfall
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