Editing Mikhail Gorbachev (section)

=== 1999–2008: Promoting social democracy in Putin's Russia ===

[[File:Inauguration of Vladimir Putin 7 May 2000-13.jpg|thumb|Gorbachev attended the [[First inauguration of Vladimir Putin|inauguration of Vladimir Putin]] in May 2000]]

In December 1999, Yeltsin resigned and was succeeded by his deputy, [[Vladimir Putin]], who won the [[2000 Russian presidential election|March 2000 presidential election]].{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=676}} Gorbachev initially welcomed Putin's rise, seeing him as an anti-Yeltsin figure.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=652}} Although he spoke out against some of the Putin government's actions, Gorbachev praised the new government in 2002.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=679}} At the time, he believed Putin to be a committed democrat who nevertheless had to use "a certain dose of authoritarianism" to stabilize the economy and rebuild the state after the Yeltsin era.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=677}} At Putin's request, Gorbachev became co-chair of the "Petersburg Dialogue" project between high-ranking Russians and Germans.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=676}}

In 2000, Gorbachev helped form the [[Russian United Social Democratic Party]].{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=678}} In June 2002, he participated in a meeting with Putin, who praised the venture.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=679}} In 2003, Gorbachev's party merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the [[Social Democratic Party of Russia (2001)|Social Democratic Party of Russia]],{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=678}} but it failed to gain traction with voters.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=678}} Gorbachev resigned as party leader in May 2004 after the [[2003 Russian legislative election|2003 election campaign]]. The party was banned in 2007 by the [[Supreme Court of the Russian Federation]] due to its failure to establish local offices with at least 500 members in the majority of Russian regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mosnews.com/news/2007/04/13/nogorbyparty.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423024223/http://mosnews.com/news/2007/04/13/nogorbyparty.shtml |archive-date=23 April 2007 |title=Russia Bans Party Founded by Gorbachev |date=23 April 2007 |website=MosNews |url-status=usurped |access-date=27 December 2019}}</ref> Later that year, Gorbachev founded a new movement, the Union of Social Democrats, stating that it would not contest the forthcoming elections.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gorbachev sets up Russia movement |website=BBC News |date=20 October 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7054274.stm |access-date=7 May 2019 |archive-date=4 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104021656/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7054274.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

Gorbachev was critical of US hostility to Putin, arguing that the US government "doesn't want Russia to rise" again as a global power, but wanted to be "the sole superpower".{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=680}} Gorbachev was critical of US policy following the Cold War, arguing that the West had attempted to "turn [Russia] into some kind of backwater".{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=685}} He rejected Bush's claim that the US had "won" the Cold War, arguing that both sides had cooperated to end the conflict.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=685}} He was critical of how the US had broken its word and expanded NATO right up to Russia's borders.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=685}}<ref>{{cite news |author-last1=Blomfield |author-last2=Smith |author-first1=Adrian |author-first2=Mike |title=Gorbachev: US could start new Cold War |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=6 May 2008 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1933223/Gorbachev-US-could-start-new-Cold-War.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1933223/Gorbachev-US-could-start-new-Cold-War.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=11 March 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He spoke out against the 1999 [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]] because it lacked UN backing, and the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] led by the US.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=685}}