The Foreign Service Journal, December 2011

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 ditor’s Note: As President Ronald Reagan’s vice president from 1981 to 1989 and then as president from 1989 to 1993, George H.W. Bush played a lead- ing role in formulating and executing U.S. foreign policy during the last years of the Cold War, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the Newly Independent States. AFSA honored President Bush with its Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy in 1997. For this special issue of the Foreign Service Journal , he was kind enough to provide his reflections on a series of questions related to his role in the historic events leading up to the dis- solution of the Soviet Union. FSJ: During your presidency, what priority did relations with the Soviet Union have on your foreign policy agenda? And what were the chief concerns shaping your policy deci- sions? GHWB: Even before I assumed the presidency, I was determined to come up with something dramatic to help move U.S.-USSR relations forward. I didn’t want us simply to react to Mikhail Gorbachev and his latest ideas, but rather I wanted something bold and innovative that would reaffirm the United States as the key player shaping the international agenda. FSJ: When and where did you first meet Mikhail Gorbachev? What were your initial impressions, and how did they evolve as you dealt with him? GHWB: I first met Mikhail on March 13, 1985, when [as vice president] I was attending yet another state funeral in Moscow — this one for General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko. I communicated my initial impressions of Mikhail in a cable I sent to President [Ronald] Reagan that same day: “Gorbachev will package the Soviet line for Western consumption much more effectively than any (I repeat any) of his predecessors. He has a disarming smile, warm eyes and an engaging way of making an unpleasant point and then bouncing back to establish real communica- tion with his interlocutors. “He can be firm. Example: When I raised human rights questions with specificity, he interrupted my presentation to come back with the same rhetorical excess we have heard before. Quote: ‘Within the borders of the U.S. you don’t respect human rights’ or [referring to African-Americans], ‘you brutally repress their rights.’ But along with this the fol- lowing: ‘We will be prepared to think it over,’ and ‘Let’s appoint rapporteurs and discuss it.’ The gist being as follows: ‘Don’t lecture us on human rights, don’t attack socialism, but let’s each take our case to discussion!’” In sum, I could sense that Mikhail was different — some- one with whom we could work on a host of issues. FSJ: Do you think Gorbachev had any sense that his poli- cies and reforms might ultimately lead to the breakup of the Soviet Union? GHWB: On Christmas Day 1991, Mikhail resigned as president of the Soviet Union. That morning, I received word that he wanted to talk with me, a “final phone call.” C HARTING A P ATH THROUGH G LOBAL C HANGE A N I NTERVIEW WITH P RESIDENT G EORGE H.W. B USH E