Word: brezhnevs
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...mere stripling in the ruling Soviet gerontocracy. He was the youngest member in the Politburo, where the average age is 66, and probably the healthiest. Moreover, as George Washington University Kremlinologist Carl Linden sees it, his impatient approach probably clashed with that of his cautious elders. "While Brezhnev and the other old men wanted to pursue glacial tactics, Shelepin was an activist, always looking for opportunities to shake things up in the world. He has probably favored pressing the Soviet advantage in Indochina, Portugal and the Middle East more actively than Brezhnev...
Sovietologists agreed that the shake-up was highly significant-but of what? Some Western commentators jumped to the conclusion that it was a triumph for Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev's middle-of-the-road policies at home and detente abroad as against Shelepin's supposedly hard-lining Stalinism. Actually, Shelepin has consistently praised Brezhnev not only for his "vast personal contribution" to economic and political cooperation with the West but also for his handling of key domestic issues...
...Mere Stripling. In Moscow, the consensus among foreign diplomats was that Shelepin's fall had not been caused by policy differences but by power politics. According to one scenario, Shelepin was caught organizing a faction that would have seized power when the ailing Brezhnev retired or died. Now Brezhnev can probably count on eight votes, including his own, on issues that come before the 15 remaining Politburo members. This might enable him to engineer an orderly transfer of power at the 25th Party Congress that is scheduled to begin next February. Current favorite to succeed him, at least...
Some experts believe he helped Brezhnev engineer the conspiracy that ousted Khrushchev. At any rate, Shelepin was soon rewarded by a promotion to the Presidium (now the Politburo). Since 1965, however, while he remained a full Politburo member, he has always lurked in the antechambers of total power. His ambition and talent could hardly have pleased the Politburo majority...
Although actively in pursuit of détente, Britain was discomfited by Shelepin's presence, even though he is widely regarded as a contender for Leonid Brezhnev's job when the Soviet party chief retires. As for the T.U.C., it defended the bungled visit in a statement claiming that the trip had led to "constructive conversations held in a friendly atmosphere...