Word: gorbachev
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...place any long-distance calls or patronize popular restaurants. They proved so obliging that some restaurant owners in town complained that their establishments were virtually empty. The Icelanders were particularly eager to please when it came to the Hofdi guesthouse, the austere, two-story building where Reagan and Gorbachev met. When Soviet cooks inspected the plain, white bone-china tea service that was to be used to serve Gorbachev, they found it, well, not elaborate enough. The Icelanders and Soviets went on a joint mission to examine three different sets, one of which proved satisfactory to Gorbachev's minions...
...Raisa Gorbachev fit into Icelandic plans perfectly. For two days the genteel Raisa was an enthusiastic booster of Icelandic ways and wares. Dressed in a three-quarter-length silver-fox coat and black suede boots with a matching handbag, she appeared at a popular public swimming pool fed by sulfurous waters from Iceland's famed geothermal springs. The swimmers, who apparently had not been informed of the visit, paddled through the steamy mist in rubber caps and goggles to greet the Soviet First Lady. When Raisa applauded them, they clapped in return like performing seals. She then leaned over...
...Soviet effort in Reykjavík is a far cry from their past stentorian sloganeering. Under Gorbachev, they have come to realize that cultivating international public opinion can boost their foreign policy. The new affability and reasonableness was first evident at the 1985 Shultz-Shevardnadze meeting in Helsinki and became more apparent at the Geneva summit. In Iceland, the style has come into...
...Soviet advantage was underscored by the decision to have Raisa Gorbachev go to the Reykjavík meeting after all, even though Nancy Reagan was not attending. Asked about her presence, one Soviet newsman shrugged, "Women are often unpredictable." But more than mere whim seemed to be involved. The Soviets seemed to be aping the American tradition that a leader abroad is more appealing when accompanied by an adoring spouse...
...Soviets also beat the Americans to the briefing room. As early as last Tuesday, a Soviet newsroom at the International Press Center was clicking with computers and copiers. The Soviets even decorated the corridor walls with framed photographs of Gorbachev and Reagan in Geneva under the neatly stenciled label AMERICAN-SOVIET RELATIONS. Soviet officials offered daily briefings for news-starved correspondents. "I welcome you with all my heart to this press center," said the grayhaired Soviet propagandist Albert Vlasov with perhaps a trifle too much earnestness...