At the request of the head of state of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, US President Ronald Reagan addressed the students and faculty of Moscow State University on May 31, 1988. The Soviet Union was in the process of liberalizing many of its policies, and the Berlin Wall would soon fall. Reagan and Gorbachev had met on several occasions in the previous few years to discuss, among other topics, free speech and nuclear disarmament.

Reagan starts by thanking Rector Logunov for his introduction, expressing his pleasure about being there, and saying, "I wish you success" in Russian. He says that one of the most important messages of the summit (the fourth such summit between Reagan and Gorbachev) was the expression of peace, good will, hope, and growing friendship between the people of Russia and the United States.

Reagan says that he plans to talk about some of the issues that he and Gorbachev discussed at the summit, but first he wants to speak to his audience as university students. He declares that a revolution is sweeping the world, and it is the technological revolution of information embodied in the silicon chip. Information technology is transforming the world through innovations such as robotic labor, weather forecasting, mapping of the genetic code, and microcomputers.

The world is emerging from the Industrial Revolution into a world where "man creates his own destiny." The key to this progress is freedom of thought, information, and communication. Reagan recalls that one of the first contacts between Russian and American explorers was during one of Captain Cook's last voyages. They met on the island of Unalaska, and they assisted each other and held a prayer service.

Reagan goes on to say that in this modern technological era, the men of vision are entrepreneurs. In starting their small businesses they inspire growth. Even when they fail, they learn to improve and find out that experience is the best teacher. The plans of government bureaucracies are no substitute for the visions of millions of free people in the pursuit of their dreams. Reagan uses a short Russian folk legend to illustrate his point about government inefficiency.

Reagan gives examples of economic freedom spreading around the world in nations such as Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China, and Latin American states.

America's belief in freedom is epitomized by elections that take place at regular intervals and an independent press that reports on the candidates. Other examples of American freedom include freedom of worship, the teaching of the principles of freedom in schools, independent courts and judges, open discussions of political matters, and the protection of workers by unions. Freedom involves the ability to challenge established ways of thinking and acting, as well as an appreciation of the preciousness of every life.

The United States is comprised of citizens of hundreds of backgrounds, including people from Russia, the Ukraine, Armenia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Recently families of some of these nationalities have been allowed to visit their relatives in the West, and Reagan expresses the hope that in the future people will be able to visit freely.

Americans are also deeply religious, and they revere their freedom as a gift of God. Religious principle expressed in virtue and morality is essential to good government. Reagan emphasizes that he not only wants to extol the virtues of the United States, but also the virtues of the people of the Soviet Union. As examples of great souls, he mentions writers such as Dostoyevsky and Pasternak. He says that the world is watching the Soviet Union...