Mr. Gorbachev speaks like a man who cares about the people of his nation, not merely about some abstract and idealised fatherland or motherland. Furthermore, one perceives a broader humanitarian tone. A fitting delivery from a deserving winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Peter Fry, Lamphun, Thailand

Richard Briscoe, Amersham, England:

The post of President did exist in the USSR prior to Gorbachev but was a ceremonial position with no real power until Gorbachev created an executive presidency, and as you say the real power lay in the Communist Party, of which Gorbachev was General Secretary. The first person to hold the post was one of Stalin's henchmen, Mikhail Kalinin in 1936. When Gorbachev came to power in 1985, one of his early actions was to elevate the veteran Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko to the presidency

Although the sentiments in this article may be Gorbachev's, I doubt that he wrote it himself

Richard, Bexhill, UK

Only one problem. Here in Russia, we think that it is pure waste of time to hear any thoughts from such leader as Gorbachev. We remember him very well.

Mikhail, Penza, Russia

Mr Gorbachev's article is intelligent and well reasoned. It is, however, inacurrate to say that he was President of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. The post of President of the USSR was only created in 1990 - Gorbachev was the first and only person to fill it. From 1985, like all previous Soviet leaders, he held the post of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Richard Briscoe, Amersham, England

Lubo, Moscow is not Russia, Russia is not the same in the East as it is in the Western parts. It is a heavily diveded country, split in wealth as well as cultural. Go out in the country and you will find little interest in politics, mainly a great graving for a better standard of life.

Jerome, Windsor, UK, Berks

I appreciate that as a politician your statements are seldom to be taken at face value. I have the advantage of being unencumbered by any knowledge of Russian politics and this allows me to say that I think Russia should govern to suit itself, however it cares to describe this. Britain has its own particular government and we call this a democracy for want of a more suitable word. Whatever produces development and growth, and best raises per capita GNP, will eventually be appreciated by the greatest number, and indeed other countries. Success breeds friends and I would have thought Russia could usefully swap oil and gas for German organisation and technology.

Henry Percy, London, UK

President Gorbachev presented his country with the greatest opportunity in its history. Unfortunately, Russia has chosen not to take it up - yet. Then again, how can a population produced by Russian history be expected to understand democracy in action when two of the most "democratic" countries on the planet started an illegal war against the wishes of a significant, possibly major, part of their electorates and one of those nations is voting today to give up its sovereignty against the wishes of a clear majority of its population. The Russians do read our newspapers - see the comments list in these articles for proof of that.

If we want to sing the praises of democracy, we have to live it first, otherwise we can sing all we want but the world will not listen.

KR, Stockport,

I would've thought that the form of democracy best suited to a country like Russia, which needs a strong central executive and to slowly develop a sense of democratic accountablility would be a form similar to the British first past the post system, and not a form of proportional representation such as party lists which might not give the voters a clear link with their parliamentarians nor give as much clarity to the decision making process.

Jon Underwood, Edinburgh, UK

"insist on blaming Russia for problems real and imagined. And some Western media have become obsessed with anti-Russian stereotypes and wholesale criticism of our country." Time for you to pack it in Mikhail, Putin's style is to Blame the West and America for "problems real and imagined." Putin himself has "become obsessed with anti"-American "stereotypes and wholesale criticism of our country (USA)." If you think that being belligerent to the west and bullying your smaller neighbors (who've tired of Russian domination and seek their future in the EU) Russia has rebuilt its international standing, then you are completely out of touch with reality. Putin and Medvedev are drunk on power, they are both dictators overseeing a rubber-stamp parliament, utterly corrupt. Neither of these "presidents" have ever debated their real opponents on live television or radio. The recent election was a joke. And in oil-rich Russia, what about the official pathetic pensions Putin pays Russia's old.. sad!

shay, boston, usa/ma

Its quite nice that Gorby keeps talking about democracy 17 years after his own democratic experiment failed! What followed were 9 years of chaos and then another authoritarian scheme in the Kremlin.
Is Russian political culture as such designed to contribute to building a democratic society?? Ask anyone in the streets of Moscow about whether they want to see 24 hour malls (I actually have seen those in the capital) or genuine elections! The answer you`d get wouldn`t be a lesson of nascent civil society, sorry!

Lubo, maastricht, NL

An exceptionally well written piece – until the last paragraph.

I directed The Cherry Orchard a few years ago and was struck by how Chekov's Russia had changed little through communism and then post-communism.

Whilst all people are basically the same and equal, a national identity takes centuries to grow and likewise, turn around. The oil wealth of Russia and the Middle East will only hinder progress for these countries to find a way into the modern world.

George Ball, Diss,