Solution-Oriented Policy

delegates from all over the country. On this occasion, the Soviet Prime Minister, Mikhail Gorbachev, delivered a threeand-a-half-hour speech. In this long address, he strongly advocated self-criticism. A summary of his speech can be found in the The Times of India (June 29, 1988, page 11). Mr. Quentin Peel, who participated in the conference as a journalist, listened to the speeches of the Soviet leaders and met them personally. He summed up Prime Minister Gorbachev’s three-and-a-half-hour address in these words: “The message seemed plain enough: the party would have to renounce its stifling role in the administration and economy of the country. Power and privilege would have to be curbed, science and initiative given their head, if the Soviet Union were to compete with the rest of the world, let alone be a superpower.” The message, at first glance, was very simple. The Communist Party would have to give up its tight control over administration, the economy, and the country itself. Limits on power and privilege would have to end. Science and initiative would need to be encouraged if the Soviet Union wanted not only to compete with the rest of the world, but also to remain a superpower. Perestroika These circumstances forced the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Gorbachev, to face reality. Abandoning the