Word: reagan
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...Even Reagan's presence in Berlin at the close of his trip was in part a response to Gorbachev. The Soviet leader visited the eastern half of the divided city three weeks ago. Some U.S. planners feared, wrongly, that Gorbachev would make a sensational proposal to reunify Germany. They thought the President would have to deliver a reply...
That proved unnecessary, but the grim Wall nonetheless provided a dramatic backdrop for Reagan's attempt to reassert leadership of the Western alliance. Before an audience estimated at 20,000, the President rose to the occasion. Referring to the city's division and deliberately inviting comparison with John F. Kennedy's famed "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in 1963, Reagan expressed "this unalterable belief: es gibt nur ein Berlin" (there is only one Berlin). Taking note of the violent demonstrations against U.S. foreign policy that swirled through West Berlin before his arrival, Reagan asserted, "I invite those who protest today...
...Reagan in effect invited Gorbachev to prove he means his protestations of peace. Said the President: "Now the Soviets themselves may in a limited way be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness . . . Are these the beginnings of profound change in the Soviet Union? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West or to strengthen the Soviet Union without changing it?" At that point Reagan issued his challenge to Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall...
...strong performance but not quite enough to erase the impression that Reagan is losing the initiative to his Soviet rival. For months before the President's trip, West European polls have been telling a distressing story. Whether the surveys are taken in Britain, West Germany, France, Italy or various combinations of countries, they have yielded consistent results: more West Europeans are looking to Gorbachev than to Reagan for leadership toward disarmament. In a poll sponsored by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and published last week, residents of nine European nations were asked which superpower leader was working harder to stop...
...Venice summit promptly made clear, Reagan's efforts to exert his leadership are severely handicapped. Europeans readily acknowledge that in arms negotiations American military power far overshadows that of any other ! ally: indeed, U.S. defense spending ($289 billion last year) is more than half the size of Britain's entire gross domestic product ($547 billion in 1986). But in economic matters, the crippling U.S. budget and trade deficits cause America to appear as a supplicant rather than a confident leader. The $170 billion shortfall in trade last year made the U.S. the world's largest debtor nation. A Western diplomat...