Editing Mikhail Gorbachev (section)

==== German reunification and the Gulf War ====

In January 1990, Gorbachev privately agreed to permit East German reunification with West Germany, but rejected the idea that a unified Germany could retain West Germany's NATO membership.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=543}} His compromise that Germany might retain both NATO and Warsaw Pact memberships did not attract support.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=552}} On 9 February 1990 in a phone conversation with [[James Baker]], then the US secretary of state, he said that "a broadening of the NATO zone is not acceptable" to which Baker agreed. Scholars are puzzled why Gorbachev never pursued a written pledge.<ref name="moh119">{{cite book |last1=Savranskaya |first1=Svetlana |last2=Blanton |first2=Thomas |last3=Zubok |first3=Vladislav |title=MASTERPIECES OF HISTORY |url=https://books.openedition.org/ceup/2906?lang=en |chapter=Document No. 119: Record of Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and James Baker, February 9, 1990 |series=National Security Archive Cold War Readers |publisher=Central European University Press |date=2010 |pages=675–684 |isbn=9786155211881 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220220436/https://books.openedition.org/ceup/2906?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 1990, he visited the US for talks with President Bush;{{sfnm|1a1=Doder|1a2=Branson|1y=1990|1p=422|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=550}} there, he agreed that an independent Germany would have the right to choose its international alliances.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=552}} Ultimately he acquiesced to the reunification on the condition that NATO troops not be posted to the territory of Eastern Germany.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=546}} There remains [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany#Eastward expansion of NATO|some confusion]] over whether US secretary of state James Baker led Gorbachev to believe that NATO would not expand into other countries in Eastern Europe. There was no oral or written US promise that explicitly said so. Gorbachev stated that he was only made such a promise regarding East Germany and that it was kept.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against all walls |url=http://rbth.com/international/2014/10/16/mikhail_gorbachev_i_am_against_all_walls_40673.html |access-date=31 January 2022 |website=Russia Beyond |date=16 October 2014 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131025347/https://www.rbth.com/international/2014/10/16/mikhail_gorbachev_i_am_against_all_walls_40673.html |url-status=live |last1=Kórshunov |first1=Maxim }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Eckel|first=Mike|date=20 May 2021|title=Did The West Promise Moscow That NATO Would Not Expand? Well, It's Complicated.|language=en|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-expansion-russia-mislead/31263602.html|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=23 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423112504/https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-expansion-russia-mislead/31263602.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In July, Kohl visited Moscow and Gorbachev informed him that the Soviets would not oppose a reunified Germany's being part of NATO.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=564}} Domestically, Gorbachev's critics accused him of betraying the national interest;{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=565}} more broadly, they were angry that Gorbachev had allowed the Eastern Bloc to move away from direct Soviet influence.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=540–541}}

[[File:Bush Gorba P15623-25A.jpg|thumb|left|In September 1990, Gorbachev met repeatedly with US president George Bush (Sr) at the [[Helsinki Summit (1990)|Helsinki Summit]]]]

In August 1990, [[Saddam Hussein]]'s Iraqi government [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded Kuwait]]; Gorbachev endorsed President Bush's condemnation of it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oral History – Mikhail Gorbachev |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/gorbachev/1.html |publisher=PBS |access-date=29 January 2022 |archive-date=1 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701012210/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/gorbachev/1.html |url-status=live}}</ref> This brought criticism from many in the Soviet state apparatus, who saw Hussein as a key ally in the [[Persian Gulf]] and feared for the safety of the 9,000 Soviet citizens in Iraq, although Gorbachev argued that the Iraqis were the clear aggressors.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=213 |2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2pp=540–541, 566–567}} In November the Soviets endorsed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|a UN Resolution]] permitting force to be used in expelling the Iraqi Army from Kuwait.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=567–568}} Gorbachev later called it a "watershed" in world politics, "the first time the superpowers acted together in a regional crisis".{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=568}} However, when the US announced plans for [[Gulf War|a ground invasion]], Gorbachev opposed it, urging instead a peaceful solution.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=588–589}} In October 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]; he was flattered but acknowledged "mixed feelings" about the accolade.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=220 |2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=572}} Polls indicated that 90% of Soviet citizens disapproved of the award, widely seen as an anti-Soviet accolade.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=572}}

With the Soviet budget deficit climbing and no domestic money markets to provide the state with loans, Gorbachev looked elsewhere.{{sfn|McCauley|1998|p=214}} Throughout 1991, Gorbachev requested sizable loans from Western countries and Japan, hoping to keep the Soviet economy afloat and ensure the success of perestroika.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=568–569}} Although the Soviet Union had been excluded from the [[G7]], Gorbachev secured an invitation to [[17th G7 summit|its London summit]] in July 1991.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1pp=218–219 |2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=593}} There, he continued to call for financial assistance; Mitterrand and Kohl backed him,{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=570}} while Thatcher—no longer in office—urged Western leaders to agree.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=215|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2pp=595–596}} Most G7 members were reluctant, instead offering technical assistance and proposing the Soviets receive "special associate" status—rather than full membership—of the [[World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund]].{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1pp=218–219|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=595}} Gorbachev was frustrated that the US would spend $100&nbsp;billion on the Gulf War but would not offer his country loans.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=214|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=595}} Other countries were more forthcoming; West Germany had given the Soviets [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]60&nbsp;billion by mid-1991.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=569}} Bush visited Moscow in late July, when he and Gorbachev concluded ten years of negotiations by signing the [[START I]] treaty, a bilateral agreement on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=221|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2pp=596–598}}