Gorbachev pleads for world peace

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev told a sold-out audience that peace can only be achieved through diplomacy during a World Affairs Council of Philadelphia event which heralded him as International Statesman of the Year. "I believe that peace is not just the absence of war," Gorbachev said during his speech at Irvine Auditorium last night. "We have to make peace a positive concept." Accompanied by his wife Raisa, Gorbachev entered the auditorium with World Affairs Council officials to a standing ovation, and walked to the stage where he sat next to President Sheldon Hackney. Hackney welcomed Gorbachev to the University, and gave him a T-shirt emblazoned with "Penn" in both English and Cyrillic letters as a gift from the University. "Let me call your attention to the very large contingent of Penn students who are here and also to the high school students who have been invited here today by the World Affairs Council and by the University," Hackney said in his introduction. "We find it appropriate, and indeed important, that these young people who hold the future in their hands . . . that they should be here to have the opportunity to hear someone about whom we have all read so much, who is, it may be said, living history," he continued. The 200 University students -- who, after spending hours waiting in line on Locust Walk, had received their free tickets courtesy of a donation by an anonymous alumnus -- sat in seats reserved for them in the balcony of the auditorium. After an introduction from Richard Greenberg, a partner of one of the Philadelphia law firms underwriting the speech, Gorbachev took to the podium with an interpreter by his side. Speaking emphatically and in a monotone, Gorbachev said he had already spoken extensively of the current situation in Russia and the republics to the American media, and proceeded to deliver his speech on the promotion of world peace in the context of a new world order -- without once mentioning President Clinton or current Russian leader Boris Yeltsin. "Whether we want it or not, a new world order is evolving," Gorbachev said. "The abolition of the old ground rules created a situation of uncertainty in the world." Gorbachev then reached the crux of his speech -- a prescription for peaceful negotiations rather than armed conflict as a solution to world problems. "And when I hear people say that we should establish peace with fire and sword, with the weapons of war, I am very concerned," he said. "We have to learn once and for all . . . reliance on the use of force will not solve our problems, will not solve the problems that the world is still facing." Gorbachev said he did not advocate the United States continuing in its long-time role as "a world policeman," but rather envisioned the future world as a multipolar one, which would be "more like an academic community with its polyphony." He called the end of the Cold War "too euphoric," and said that this century is ending in crises which need to be resolved thoughtfully and peacefully by an empathetic world community. " 'The death of any man diminishes me, because I am a part of mankind,' " Gorbachev said, quoting poet John Donne. " 'Never ask for whom the bell tolls -- it tolls for thee.' " He ended his remarks on an optimistic note for the future. "I believe that we will have the wisdom to cope with the problems of our time, and that we can look to the future with confidence," he concluded. The floor was then opened up to questions from the audience, of which the former Soviet president could only answer three due to the extreme length of his answers. In one answer, he derided former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, questioning her ability to tell him how to run his country. "Mrs. Thatcher gives the kind of advice to others that she would not apply to her own country," Gorbachev said to laughter and applause from the audience. "Why did it take her 12 years to privatize 17 percent of the country?" Students said that they were impressed with the world leader, and that it had been worth the Walk wait for tickets. "It was great to see a world leader after studying him for so long," College senior Marianne Alves said, adding that she had waited five hours for her free ticket. "It was definitely worth the wait." "I really liked it," College senior Dave Lebowitz said. "I don't think he went out on too much of a limb," he added, commenting on the speech's generality. Some, however, left the speech with questions not of the means toward global peace, but of a more domestic nature. "High school students were invited by the University?" College senior Rick Greenberg said after the speech. "I'd like to know why Penn students weren't invited by the University."

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