Word: gorbachevized
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...Once Gorbachev's democratization had lifted the lid, fiery-eyed nationalism leaped out. Azerbaijanis and Armenians fell upon one another as if centuries of Muslim-Christian warfare had never seen a truce. Moscow sent in peacekeeping troops, and Azerbaijanis denounced the government, publicly burning their red party cards. Soviet forces killed 20 demonstrators in Georgia. Fueled by anger over chronic unemployment, housing shortages and catastrophic damage to the environment, a spate of violent riots in Tadzhikistan, Kirghizia and Kazakhstan turned anti-Russian. With less bloodshed but equal vehemence, national movements in the Ukraine, Moldavia and Belorussia are demanding...
Moscow is visibly scrambling to find a way to contain this spreading chaos without resorting to repression. Like every Soviet leader since Lenin, Gorbachev faced a nationalities problem; he simply did not know how to solve it. A special party Central Committee meeting on the issue was repeatedly delayed. When it finally convened last September, it was evident that the postponement had done little good, and Kremlin planners continued to underestimate the strength of rising nationalism. The policy they put forth was a vague collection of homilies on the inadmissibility of secession and the importance of economic integration. "Our party...
...Baltic states dismissed Gorbachev's plea. Says Valery Chalidze, an exiled dissident and editor: "I think ((the Soviet leaders)) are very far from any clear ideas on what they want in any new constitution." Peter Reddaway, senior Soviet specialist at George Washington University, agrees: "I don't think Gorbachev has any realistic design for a particular type of federation. He is under so much pressure from so many problems that trying to devise something stable is really hopeless...
...republican elections that began last December and will continue in various parts of the country through June, the clearest campaign theme to emerge is the public's rejection of Communist Party candidates. Gorbachev hopes to save the Union by decreasing the importance of the much hated party and enhancing the powers of the central, duly elected government. Like an admiral on a sinking warship, he is transferring his flag to another vessel...
...Though Gorbachev remains head of the party, he is investing the office of the President with precisely those powers that he hopes will allow him to control the centrifugal forces pulling the Soviet Union apart. As chairman of the Defense Council, he is already commander in chief of the armed forces. But the new law passed last week will formalize the President's control not only of the military but also of Interior Ministry troops and the KGB. He will appoint and preside over the Cabinet of Ministers, declare emergencies and martial law, issue executive orders, veto laws and dissolve...