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598 Document No. 106: Record of Conversation between Mikhail gorbachev and Brian Mulroney November 21, 1989 Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney hears an earful from Gorbachev about the Americans, but the Soviet leader’s annoyance is focused less on Bush and Secretary of State James Baker (“after a difficult period of doubts they came to very realistic positions”) than on the U.S. Congress, which he accuses of interfering in Soviet affairs with actions such as a proposed Senate resolution on the Armenianpopulated Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan, scene of nationalist protests and a future civil war. “The habits of the global policeman are still very strong,” Gorbachev remarks. “Americans have an itch: to give everybody advice how to live. For Americans this is like an illness…” Mulroney agrees that Bush and Baker “have a reasonable and balanced approach to Eastern Europe,” and describes as “mature ” the president’s refusal to “go to Berlin” for “a big speech” “in front of the wall,” despite pressure from leading Democratic politicians. Then the Canadian poses a series of tough questions about the limits, if any, for developments in Eastern Europe, including German unification and the future of the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet leader does not respond directly, but falls back on his vision of “the Helsinki process”—perhaps there should be another Helsinki summit involving Europeans, part of a process of mutual contacts, slow integration, and gradual change in the character of the blocs. As for Germany, Gorbachev appears to be in full denial: “let history itself solve it. This is not an issue to be solved today.” […] Gorbachev: […] Now all the world’s intelligence services and the press are debating the question of how much time is left for gorbachev. Well, they have their work to do, they have a subject to talk about. But this is not the decisive factor. The country will not go back, it has to change. Maybe some other team would be able to affect the speed of the changes, but the country will change anyway. And in this sense, one can say that gorbachev has already accomplished his mission. Of course, I am not going to abandon the course that I began. Mulroney: I have more confidence in your political longevity than in my own. And I, by the way, plan to work for several more years. […] Better let somebody else make sacrifices. There can be no changes without problems. Gorbachev: Our people are prepared to persevere. But they want to know, they want to be confident in the results, in the success of perestroika. Our people are patient, but their patience is not endless. You cannot test the limits of the people’s patience. They can rise like no other people. […] Melyakova book.indb 598 2010.04.12. 16:21 599 Mulroney: This brings us to the question of specific features of different peoples , for example the Americans and the Canadians. The Americans see the world in a very simple way: free enterprise, capitalism, the American flag, McDonald ’s—everything is OK. Gorbachev: If it were only that. […] No, they have other specific traits too. Mulroney: In any case, they have achieved a lot implementing the principle of free enterprise. […] Gorbachev: I would like to emphasize one more issue. We are faced with attempts to interfere in the affairs of our federation on the part of the USA—by the administration, and especially by the Congress. It is not easy for the Americans to comprehend the essence of the new world, of the new values. The habits of the global policeman are still very strong, as are the desire to impose their opinion and the efforts to dictate to others. I will have to tell the president in Malta: if you want to help somebody, try to help Quebec. It is closer to you, and we will sort out our problems on our own. It seems like the American senators have lost sleep over Nagorno-Karabakh. Why is their sleep not disturbed by what has been happening in Northern Ireland for 15 years now? And that is in a country where almost 30 percent of the population is of Irish origin. Interference is impermissible. You know that every federation has its own problems. Take, for example, Yugoslavia. We need sensitivity here, attentive and careful consideration. And the Americans have an itch: to give everybody advice on how to live. For Americans this is like an illness—AIDS. So far there is no treatment for...

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