But Can He Type?

What is an out-of-work former superpower leader to do? MIKHAIL GORBACHEV is taking a cue from Richard Nixon and picking up a pen. A very special pen. Gorbachev has signed on as a journalist with the prestigious Italian daily La Stampa, which plans to publish 10 of his global ruminations a year. His first piece, a defense of socialism, was picked up by the New York Times this week. Gorbachev added a historical flourish as he signed his new employment contract in Moscow. Pausing dramatically, he noted that he had once used the same pen to sign “an important agreement on disarmament.”