Word: diplomatically
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...group is likely to have cleared first with Tehran. Since Iran has always preferred to distance itself from the hostage takers, its presumed willingness to be cited may be a sign that it is positioning itself to take credit for any future progress. "For us," says a French diplomat who went through the experience of helping secure the release of several French hostages, "the key was always in Tehran." The U.S. can only hope that once the key starts turning, it will not stop...
...squeezing Vilnius. With the warming of East-West relations at stake, they reason, the fate of a tiny republic and its 3.7 million people -- 1.3% of the Soviet population -- does not merit a fight, unless Moscow turns truly nasty. "Everybody feels for the Lithuanians," says a senior NATO diplomat, "but everybody is keeping an eye on the bigger picture...
Much as the U.S. and its allies would like to see an independent Lithuania, that goal runs a poor second to their desire to remain on friendly terms with Gorbachev. If Lithuania provokes a blast of East-West acrimony, notes a senior British diplomat, "it could plunge us back into the cold war." The process of arms reduction would probably halt, and perhaps reverse. The democratization of Eastern Europe would be imperiled, as would prospects for a smooth unification of the Germanys. A return to superpower tensions would also bolster the influence of conservatives in Moscow and undercut Gorbachev...
...highest offices led to his depiction as the formidable Karla in Le Carre's spy novels, went to the Soviet Union, presumably to help the KGB roll up the East German operations. "Some of the best analysts from Eastern Europe are probably in Moscow now," says a British diplomat. "And the best agents abroad are probably employed...
With the Soviets scooping up the cream of the East bloc, some agents who do not make the grade are hunting for espionage jobs in the West. Most are turned away. "If the KGB did not want them, why should we?" says a senior British diplomat. Many agents end up working in Western countries for Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya. "It makes sense," says Malcolm Mackintosh, senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "They are less conspicuous in the West than Arabs are." The cold war may be over, but for spies the basic method remains...