ABSTRACT
Mikhail Gorbachev has had the paradoxical effect in the West of putting an end to the conflicts that raged over detente and disarmament while sowing the seeds of a deeper, more structural fragmentation than seen heretofore. Gorbachev's expressions are of Western origin, such as "the security community", "the common house of Europe", "the new way of thinking", and "the elimination of hostile stereotypes". In relations with the West, Gorbachev's policies appear to be based on a simultaneous manipulation of glasnost and the new thinking. Gorbachev seems to make a deliberate and impressive use of two themes for Western consumption. The first is that of internal change. The second is the impressive adoption of all the West's fashionable themes. Westerners should appreciate the primacy of Soviet economic difficulties while also understanding that the Soviet Union and particularly its current leader excel at taking advantage of the system's own weaknesses and at extending Soviet influence via measures taken to counter unfavorable trends.
