| Moscow
THE fall of the Berlin Wall was not big news in Russia. Neither was it a surprise. It was a logical consequence of the process that began in Moscow in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power....
...The idea of sending tanks to stem velvet revolutions in Eastern Europe was unthinkable. Mr Gorbachev told Communist leaders in Eastern Europe that Moscow would not interfere in their domestic affairs as early as 1985. The leaders did not believe him, or did not want to share the news with their people—for once Soviet soldiers and subsidies were removed, their own days would be numbered....
