Word: kremlins
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...most concrete reason for the West's 40-year rivalry with the Soviet Union is the thrusting, threatening nature of that empire. Historic Russian expansionism, the Marxist-Leninist ideology of global class conflict, and a Kremlin mind-set that security can come only through the insecurity of adversaries have combined to create a nation whose defensive instincts can be frighteningly offensive. In his speech, Gorbachev proposed to preclude any "outward-oriented use of force," a phrase that nicely captures the essence of Soviet military policy since World War II. More important were his promised troop cuts, not just their numbers...
...represented a major change in Soviet rhetoric. His call for more reliance on the U.N. as a global peace-keeping force and international enforcer of human rights seemed like what most Americans would expect from a speech by Woodrow Wilson or John F. Kennedy than a Kremlin head. And his downplaying of ideological differences among nations demonstrates a new willingness to dismiss Marxist ideology calling for world revolution and to adopt a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy...
...drawn-out murmur echoed in the vaulted chamber of the Grand Kremlin Palace. From his front-row seat on the dais, President Mikhail Gorbachev enjoyed an unobstructed view of the extraordinary scene, but many of the 1,376 deputies at last week's session of the Supreme Soviet were forced to turn their heads to see what was going on -- not on the podium but in their midst. A motion to approve major changes in the constitution had just been put to a vote, but the show of hands was not unanimous. "Could I ask for a count of those...
...tally -- 1,344 ayes, five nays and 27 abstentions -- might have added up to a lopsided victory elsewhere, but the flicker of opposition to a key Kremlin program was a historic event in the Soviet parliament, long considered no more than a rubber stamp. Had the leadership not sought a compromise last week between the central government and a handful of republics over proposed electoral changes, the count of naysayers might have been even higher...
When Gorbachev, at last June's party conference, unveiled his plan to replace the existing parliament with a two-tier legislative system, he hailed it as a milestone on the way to "democratization." The Kremlin obviously underestimated just how democratic the response would be once the suggested legislation was presented for "public discussion" in October. More than 300,000 comments and suggestions flooded in; as a result, 58 out of 117 proposed clauses in the package of constitutional amendments and election laws were modified. Leading the legal revolt was the Baltic republic of Estonia, where the push for political reform...