Word: presummit
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Reagan had been well coached on what to expect from his Kremlin rival. Gorbachev had been forceful and unyielding at his presummit meeting in Moscow two weeks before with Secretary of State George Shultz, and Shultz had passed along to Reagan a vivid description of the Kremlin leader in action: assertive, dynamic, very opinionated and not easily swayed by eloquent rhetoric. Nonetheless, Shultz had counseled, Gorbachev was a good listener, and extremely curious to learn more about the mind-sets of his Western adversaries...
...stimulate its economy to boost imports. But at the same time, Japanese officials are trying to bolster the country's exports through intervention in the currency markets. Says Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita: "We strongly hope the market will stabilize." Despite those politely phrased misgivings, the official Japanese presummit position, from Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yoshio Hatano, is a bland assertion that "the economic conditions in the summit countries are good. We should try to maintain and promote this situation...
...first indication that the hastily called meeting in Reykjavik would be more than merely a modest presummit planning session came right at the start. President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev had ceremonially shaken hands, posed for photographers and then sat down to business, alone except for interpreters and notetakers. Reagan assumed their opening discussion would be a general one, each man outlining his broad vision of ways to manage the superpower rivalry. But after the President suggested they move from their armchairs to a rectangular wooden table, the Soviet leader pulled a detailed set of notes...
...Auden and memories of the Icelandic sagas, populated by heroes with unpronounceable names who made elegant speeches and went at one another with axes. More recent memories: news analyses assuring the public that Reagan and Gorbachev definitely are and definitely are not going to accomplish anything substantive at this presummit summit. Most recent memory: the underground Broadway disco in Reykjavík, an Icelandic rock group called Strax, led by a woman with her black hair done up to look like a crow in flight, singing about U.S. and Soviet journalists vying for scoops...
Such belittling descriptions would not seem appropriate for a man who had triggered an untimely presummit squabble between the superpowers and a clash of wills between the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. Government. Soviet Merchant Seaman Miroslav Medvid, 25, had inadvertently created this political uproar on Oct. 24 by leaping 40 feet from the Soviet freighter Marshal Konev into the Mississippi River near New Orleans. When the ship, laden with corn, finally pulled away from its dock last Saturday afternoon with Medvid aboard, a sad personal and political saga that had lasted for more than two weeks apparently...