The occasion was certainly right for a party, and the trappings were all that anyone would wish: the sweep of Red Square, an entertainment cast of thousands, the backdrop of the Kremlin and, later, the elegant Palace of Congresses as a banquet hall for 2,000 guests. But the hosts seemed downright edgy, as if expecting one of the guests to swing from a chandelier or pour champagne on someone's head. Indeed, some of the partygoers at last week's celebration of the Soviet Union's 50th anniversary figuratively jangled a few chandeliers and threw a...
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