This week Eric welcomes back political economist and author Jeffrey Sommers to discuss the political and historical legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev in the wake of his recent death. Jeffrey examines how Gorbachev rose to power, the forces with which he had to contend while in power, and his ultimate failure to change the course of the Soviet Union. The conversation explores everything from the dismantling of the USSR and rise of the oligarchs to the ways in which the Gorbachev period paved the way for the Putin era. So much ground covered in this conversation with one of our favorite CounterPunchers.

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