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Gorbachev gave the Central Committee several other things to think about. He criticized some of the country's 64 centralized ministries for "leniency," presumably for tolerating poor-quality goods and low productivity. He declared that economic growth rates in the current Five-Year Plan were too low. Said Gorbachev: "We have to speed them up substantially. This should be done without delay."
In fact, the Soviet economy is in worse shape than the plan indicates. In the first three months of 1985, it grew at an annual rate of less than 2%; the plan now calls for 3.9%. Gorbachev demanded improvements in technology, management and product quality. Said he: "It is important that the Soviet people feel immediately that things are changing for the better."
None of Gorbachev's exhortations were new. During his 15-month tenure, Andropov addressed many of the same issues and proposed the same solutions that his protege is now advocating. There were warnings in Moscow that Gorbachev would soon reintroduce another Andropov tactic, a crackdown on the endemic problem of alcoholism. Rumors have swept the capital that vodka will be rationed in the future.
What was most evident in Gorbachev's Central Committee performance, noted a Western diplomat in Moscow, was his "degree of impatience. He is warning people to get in line with the program by the time the new Five-Year Plan goes into effect," an event scheduled for January. Gorbachev's preoccupation with economics took priority over foreign policy in his Central Committee address. Nonetheless, he took some hard swipes at the U.S., saying, "It constantly creates seats of conflict and war danger." But Gorbachev also prescribed a return to the vision of detente as "an example of how international relations can be built," a view that he might elaborate on during his planned visit to the United Nations in September. He sent another clear message of the Soviet Union's intention to improve relations with China, which has once again become a "socialist country" in Moscow's parlance.
Two days after the Central Committee meeting, Gorbachev flew to Warsaw, where he was greeted by Poland's General Wojciech Jaruzelski before joining in ceremonies to renew the Warsaw Pact alliance among East bloc countries. At the formal signing ceremonies, where the 30-year-old alliance was extended for 20 years, plus the option of an additional decade, Gorbachev spoke forcefully but broke no new ground. Said he: "More than once we have expressed readiness to dissolve the Warsaw Treaty if NATO should agree to respond in kind. This principled stand continues to be fully valid." What undoubtedly impressed all of Gorbachev's listeners was the vigor of his public performance compared with that of the frail Chernenko.
Gorbachev has now made plain his wishes for change, but achieving it is another question. Says Gregory Grossman, a specialist in Soviet economics at the University of California, Berkeley: "A new wind tends to blow most strongly in the Kremlin. It loses two-thirds of its force for every kilometer it moves outside." Yet Gorbachev is already demonstrating his intention to move rapidly, speak out and do whatever else may be necessary to give Soviet citizens a more positive feeling about their leadership.