Richard Pipes,a leading authority on Russia and a former anti-Soviet crusader who served in the Reagan administration, also stresses Mr.Gorbachev's pivotal role.

VOA: standard.2009.11.03

president has done so. He told the council that the United Nations has a "pivotal role to play" in preventing a nuclear crisis.

VOA: standard.2009.09.24

Results from Baghdad, a pivotal area, have not yet been announced.

VOA: standard.2010.03.12

"But above all,your visit at this pivotal moment in history speaks to the opportunity before us to build the relationship between our nations born in the last century into one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century,"

VOA: standard.2009.11.25