Word: gorbachev
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What, then, to make of the legislative spectacle in Moscow last week during which a re-energized Gorbachev delivered the coup de grace to the mortally wounded carcass of communism? Working in concert with Yeltsin and the leaders of nine other republics, Gorbachev rammed through laws that both eradicated the final traces of authoritarianism and erected a shaky central structure to guide the republics toward confederation. After four days of acrimonious wrangling, the Congress of People's Deputies endorsed by a vote of 1,682 to 43 a sketchy transitional government that establishes an executive State Council and two subordinate...
...defined and presented only a stopgap solution. It was impossible to predict how much of a counterforce they would exert against the centrifugal strains unleashed by the Big Bang of the failed coup. As it was, the first act of the State Council, a body made up of Gorbachev and the top officials of 10 republics, was to grant independence to the three Baltic republics. The move, which a mere month ago would have dazzled the world, last week seemed belated and inevitable, coming four days after the U.S. had extended formal recognition to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and scores...
...outcry that he had touched off a week earlier when he precipitously threatened to "review" Russia's borders with other republics, Yeltsin perhaps understood intuitively that his role as leader of the new Russian nationalism precluded him from effectively playing the arbiter's role. To allay fears that Gorbachev might be acting as his front man for a resurgent Russia, Yeltsin promised that his gargantuan republic would not dominate any confederative structure. "The Russian state, which has chosen democracy and freedom, will never be an empire, neither a younger nor an elder brother," he said. "It will be an equal...
...message aimed not only at fellow Deputies but also abroad, particularly at the Oval Office. The avalanche of decrees that Yeltsin issued in the immediate wake of the putsch, coupled with his initial high-handed treatment of Gorbachev, did much to undermine the goodwill and trust that Yeltsin had built with the Bush Administration during the heady three days of the coup. Wariness prevailed last week. "The man clearly has courage and political talent," said a White House insider. "But he's also clearly a demagogue and an opportunist, and we'd be fools if we didn't worry about...
Last week the Bush Administration seemed confident enough of Gorbachev's continued stewardship not only to accord recognition to the Baltics but also to set forth "five principles" that would govern the U.S. response to the - rapidly shifting situation in the Soviet Union. Tipping its preference for a clearly delineated central authority that could oversee inter- and intra- republic conflicts, the Administration emphasized the need for orderly and peaceful change, safeguards to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities, and respect for international obligations...