Every statesman, in his first go at negotiating with Russia, thinks that he will succeed where others have failed. Argentina's Juan Bramuglia was no exception. Nervously chain-smoking his black Argentine cigarettes, he spent two weeks shuttling back & forth between the Soviet Embassy and the headquarters of the Western delegations, trying to work out a compromise for the Berlin crisis.
The delegates were seized by feverish compromise hopes. At one point during a Security Council session, spectators anxiously watching Andrei Vishinsky were startled when he rushed from the Palais de Chaillot stage. It was, however, no political demonstration. In his...