Q. Is the West witnessing a true perestroika, or restructuring of the Soviet system, with a diminished desire for expansion, or merely a peredyshka, a breathing space, during which Moscow wants to rebuild its economic might without any real change in its long-term geopolitical objectives?
A. I agree the words are sweet, but there are a number of significant anomalies. There is a lot of dissonance between what they say, which seems to have captured everyone's imagination in the belief that the cold war is over, and what is actually being done. For example, Mikhail Gorbachev talks about withdrawing 10,000 tanks,...
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