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The Russian nationalists clearly enjoy backing from Gorbachev's opponents in the bureaucracy. In November, for example, a new newspaper appeared on sale in the lobby of the town hall of the Tushinsky district of Moscow. The letters to the editor were a giveaway: Politburo member Yakovlev was attacked for turning the Soviet mass media over to the "pro-Zionist clan." Leningrad has also been the scene of rightist mischief making. Despite a public outcry over a series of "Russian Meetings" three weeks ago showcasing nationalist speakers, the program went ahead as scheduled, with covert support from the city party committee. Says Vladimir Arro, chairman of the Leningrad Writers' Union, wryly: "Obviously, there are bureaucrats friendly to the movement who are concerned less about the future of Russia than they are about holding on to their positions."
Opinion polls suggest that the patriots make up in noise what they lack in numbers. Leningrad sociologist Leonid Keselman estimates that about 10% of the city's population of five million are ardent Russian nationalists. A survey in the Moscow weekly Argumenty i Fakty put the number of "national patriots" in the Soviet capital (pop. 19 million) at just 5%. But if ethnic tensions continue to breed across the country and the economy declines even further, the emotionally potent idea of restoring Russia's lost greatness might take hold among a disillusioned people. If so, it will be a march away from a shining socialist future toward an equally shimmering -- but no less illusory -- mirage of the past.