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Addressing arms cuts, an emergency NATO meeting in Brussels last week demanded that the Soviet military honor all treaties and cease violations and evasions of last year's Europe-wide agreement on troop and conventional-arms rollbacks. Japanese opinion makers, meanwhile, were hoping to extend the arms- reduction process to Asia by sweetening Tokyo's aid offers to Moscow. Said University of Tokyo professor Haruki Wada: "I think there is a feeling among our people now that perestroika is of the first importance."
The new front-line Central European democracies, meanwhile, argued with some trepidation that bringing them under the Western wing was of the highest importance. The European Community seemed to agree, offering to step up negotiations toward admitting Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary as associate members.
But the big question was whether Soviet reformers would wind up feeling defeated and demoralized by hard economic realities. Italy proposed admitting the U.S.S.R. immediately as a full member of the International Monetary Fund. But Washington, which had been poised to award Moscow most-favored-nation trade status, was debating whether it might make that move contingent upon the Kremlin's prompt fulfillment of power sharing and other reforms. The issue, as experts saw it, was academic since the Soviets produce virtually no exports they could sell in the U.S. now.
Whatever is done to help the Soviets, no one was expecting a rapid cure for the nation's profound malaise. Predicted a top Bush Administration analyst: "In the short run, things will probably get worse." A senior White House official wondered if devolution of power would result in real market freedoms or just "central control by ((each of)) the 15 republics." He added: "I'm not sure even the reformers understand the difference."
With technical advice and encouragement from the West, the republics may yet harness their new spirit of nationalism and develop a true market system. In that event, Bush's judgment on the prospects for Baltic independence may turn out to have a broader application. Asked if the Kremlin had seen the light on the Baltics, the President replied, "Well, I think some of the people who saw the darkness are no longer around."