Who could this be?

He was a youthful leader with a law degree elected on the promise of reforms that would revitalize a world power trapped in the economic doldrums by its bureaucracy and huge debt. His approach of international engagement attempted to break through his country's global isolation by forging new ties and treaties with old enemies. And faced with a troubled war in Afghanistan, he authorized a temporary troop surge and counterinsurgency strategy, followed by a phased withdrawal shortly thereafter. Who was he?

Sultan Knish (aka Daniel Greenfield) wrote the description, and answers that it is not Barack Obama, but Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. His long essay on the two men and their respective missions makes for chilling, but stimulating Monday morning reading.