"Our country, like every modern state, needs profound democratic reforms. It needs political and ideological pluralism, a mixed economy and protection of human rights and the opening up of society"

Andrei Sakharov distills a comprehensive blueprint for a resilient and humane modern state, drawn from both moral conviction and practical insight. Profound democratic reforms signal a break with cosmetic changes and point to the construction of accountable institutions: an independent judiciary, real separation of powers, competitive elections, and a civic culture that expects transparency and answers.

Political and ideological pluralism demands the end of monopolies over truth and power. It assumes parties can form, compete, and lose without repression; that media and civil society can scrutinize authority; and that dissent is treated not as treason but as a vital diagnostic tool. Pluralism, for Sakharov, is not merely tolerance but a method for discovering better policies through open contestation.

A mixed economy acknowledges the failures of both rigid central planning and unregulated markets. Markets generate information, innovation, and autonomy, while public institutions set guardrails, provide public goods, and correct inequities. Property rights, competition policy, and social protections together balance dynamism with fairness, enabling citizens to be economically independent enough to be politically free.

Protection of human rights is the normative core and the operational constraint on state power. Freedom of speech, religion, association, due process, and minority protections are not optional aspirations; they are the everyday conditions under which pluralism and markets can function without degenerating into domination or abuse.

The opening up of society underscores transparency and exchange, inside and across borders. Access to information, academic and cultural interaction, and the free movement of people and ideas reduce isolation, correct official narratives, and align policy with reality.

Each element reinforces the others: rights secure pluralism; pluralism produces better governance; a mixed economy empowers citizens; openness supplies feedback and accountability. Sakharov’s vision asserts that modern strength flows not from centralized control, but from institutions that harness diversity, protect dignity, and continually correct themselves.