Word: sovietism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...changed, but it is a change of the head, not the heart. At a time when he is using his head, we should not lose ours. In providing help for Gorbachev, we should adhere to a fundamental principle. If his ultimate goal is to make life better for the Soviet people, we should help him. But we should not help him if his ultimate goal is to make life more difficult for the West by using Western subsidies to build an economically and militarily stronger Soviet Union with the same aggressive foreign policy...
...economic reforms will not work unless they are radically expanded. As Andrei Sakharov put it, "In the absence of radical reforms in the Soviet system, credits and technological aid will only prop up an ailing system and delay the advent of democracy...
...reforms do go far enough to work, it is still not in our interest to help Gorbachev unless his foreign policy becomes less aggressive. Even as he issues calls for "new thinking," Soviet power is being applied against American interests in Afghanistan and El Salvador and for propping up anti- American regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Libya. When Gorbachev asks the U.S. to help pay for perestroika, we should insist he pay for it himself by cutting his budgets for defense and foreign adventures...
...question his sincerity. He is profoundly sincere in wanting to rescue the Soviet system from a terminal illness. He has been bold and courageous in pursuing that goal. We should help him -- but only if his reforms go far enough to have a chance to succeed and if, as a result, the Soviet Union becomes less repressive at home and less aggressive abroad...
...President had been a little tentative going into such a highly charged superpower meeting, when the great Malta storm struck. But the outcome reassured the world and seemed to enhance Bush's presidential stature. His reflections on his eight hours with the Soviet boss came over the telephone line like pages out of a good reporter's notebook...