ABSTRACT
Mikhail S. Gorbachev's is young, dynamic, and fast-moving—so different from incumbents of the general secretaryship. Very young, energetic, intelligent, prudent, pragmatic, soft, elegant, but prestigious—this is the description of Mikhail Gorbachev made by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, after he met the new Soviet leader in Moscow at Konstantin Chernenko's funeral. Many share the observation that Gorbachev differs from his predecessors in terms of style. For instance, the general secretary has eschewed the development of a "cult of the personal leader." Among Western Sovietologists, and even among some Soviet politicians and specialists, the consensus is that the Soviet Union has been suffering from a sluggish economy urgently in need of bold reform measures. Gorbachev has two options if he intends to prevent the Soviet economy from getting worse. In early July 1985, CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev stunned the world with the sudden nomination of Shevardnadze as the new Soviet foreign minister.
