Word: brezhnevs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Soviet relations, Moscow Bureau Chief Erik Amfitheatrof studied the record of the past and consulted dozens of Soviet and Western sources. He also drew on his on-the-scene experience of watching Gromyko at numerous Kremlin functions, including the receptions for foreign statesmen that followed the funerals of Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov. On those occasions, he reports, Gromyko lingered longer with East bloc allies and exchanged only perfunctory greetings with Western leaders. "The exception," Amfitheatrof notes, "was Britain's Margaret Thatcher, who seemed able to charm the grim-faced Foreign Minister...
Ever since Leonid Brezhnev became seriously ill, the Soviet Union has had no strong direction from the top. As Brezhnev's health deteriorated, decision making was virtually paralyzed. His successor, Andropov, began his tenure by projecting a forceful image, particularly in cracking down on corruption, absenteeism and economic inefficiency. But soon he too was mortally ill; from Aug. 18, 1983, until his death last February, he was not seen in public. Again, decisions were postponed as his colleagues waited and presumably maneuvered for position...
...Kremlin's leadership crisis became even more apparent when, after four days of deliberation following Andropov's death, the Communist Party Central Committee announced that Chernenko had been named to the top position. Known more for his loyalty to Brezhnev than for his expertise in any area except the party bureaucracy, Chernenko had been conspicuously passed over 15 months earlier when Andropov succeeded Brezhnev; indeed, there was some speculation that Andropov had shunted his erstwhile rival aside...
...Administration similarly doubts that the Soviet boycott seriously worsens the international climate. Its view is that the Kremlin leaders have been in a state of transition since Brezhnev's health began failing five years ago. Says one Administration adviser: "They have been poorly organized to make decisions involving important changes, so they just stick to the familiar," which primarily means raging at the U.S. Says another Reagan aide: "If they want to show pique, this [boycotting the Olympics] isn't a very dangerous way to do it." Reaganauts accept the idea that Moscow is signaling to the world a refusal...
...empire) as enemy territory. The Kremlin has always regarded peace as war conducted by other means, and that goes particularly for peace with its arch adversary. Nikita Khrushchev saw no contradiction between his hope for "peaceful coexistence" and his boast "We will bury you." Similarly, Leonid Brezhnev made no bones about how the "ideological struggle" would continue despite détente...