Time magazine (June, 1980) by Vee Kay

he spectacle refle..; s the power. Bathed in while light, Moscov..·s Red Square at night is one of the most impressive symbols of strength in the world-as large and brooding as the land itself. The flat. stark lines of the Kremlin 's forbidding and protective wall dominate Le- . nin's tomb and the glorious domes ofSt. Basil's CathedraL The Soviet Union, an empire whose expanse dwarfs the one ruled by ancient Rome, now confronts a pivotal decade in its history. Before long, an en tirely new generation of lead ers must replace that of Pres iden t Leonid Brezhnev and his aging associates on the Po litburo. There is, meanwhile, growing tension between East and West, with the world's two superpowers increasingly seen to be in confrontation. The military strength of the Soviet Union is clearly the equal of the U .S. 's; the Krem lin is seeking to project its in fluence in Africa, Asia and the Middle East: with rising anger and suspicion, the So viet Union and the U.S. as sail each other on'a dozen geo graphic and economic fronts. Never before has it been so important for Americans to be knowledgeable a bout the Soviet Union. to understand what it has become. In this special issue, TIME examines the "other" superpower, ex ploring the diversity of its so ciety and the vigor of its peo ples, the deep sources of its strength and the roots of its persistent weaknesses.

A Fortress State in Transition

Brezhnev s legacy: stability, securityand- perhaps-stagnation gas in remote and inhospitable expanses. By numerous indexes --electrification. physicians and nurses per capita. teacher-to-pu.,.". J • I pii ratios, books published per ~ annum-the U.S.S.R. is an ad vanced. and still advancing so --" ciety. Despite censorship and an he Union of Soviet SociaJjst Republics official ethos that discourages in - novation, Russian culture of the is not just a country, but an empire-the Soviet era has produced master largest, and proba pieces of Western civilization. bly the last, in history . especially in music, poetry and Occupying 15% of the earth's dance. Militarily, the Soviet Union land surface, the Soviet Union is a true superpower. It ranks stretches from a cluster of first in annual defense expendi virtual colonies in Eastern tures (about $165 billion) and Europe to the Bering Strait off second (after China) in men un the tip of Alaska, across two con der arms (3,658,000). Nearly one tinents and eleven time zones; OUI of every six soldiers on earth more than 3,000 miles- roughly serves in the Soviet armed forc the distance from New York es. Over the past 30 years, its to San Francisco-separate the navy has evolved from little ice fields of the Arctic Ocean more than a well-armed coast from the sun-parched Kara guard to an armada of global Kum Desert. The 262.4 million rea.ch; it challenges the U.S. citizens of the U.S.S.R. belong Seventh Fleet for command of to more than 100 ethnic groups the Indian and western Pacific and claim descent from Varan oceans, and the South China Sea. gians. Turks, Mongols and Technicians of the Soviet Stra countless Eurasian tribes. Their tegic Rocket Forces man com government preaches to them. mand-and-control silos that can in Russian, about the supreme launch intercontinental ballistic wisdom of a 19th century missiles, some of them with as German atheist. They, however, many as ten independently tar speak in more than 100 tongues Bamer-wavlng crowds jam Red Square to celebrate May Day 1980 getable warheads, at the U.S. in and worship Jehovah, God, Prodigious achievements 0/a society that bulges with muscle. 30 to 35 minutes. Soviet rCBMs Buddha, AJlah. or the ani mist spirits of nomadic hunters in the far north. arc bigger, more numerous and more powerful than those' of Nature and human enterprise have endowed the Soviet the U.s. Yet for aU its size and strength, its human and natural rich Union with wealth and power. The prodigious achie·vements of the U .S.S.R. in mining, agriculture and energy production still ness, the U .s.S.R. remains' strangely impoverished, even cursed. conjure up images of the infamous Siberian mines, collective While its gross national product is second only to that of the farms and hydroelectric projects of the [930s, where armies of U.S. ($2.4 trillion VS. $1.4 trillion), it ranks 17th in The Book 0/ World Rallkillgs on a scale of combined social and economic in political prisoners, conscript peasants and idealistic volunteers "built Communism" under the cruel supervision of Joseph Sta dicators. after such countries as Sweden, Australia and Iceland. The U.S.S.R. also gets poor marks for conservation. The So lin's armed guards and commissars. Today's reality is less harsh, but the profile of the country scill bulges with muscle; the rec viet constitution of 1977 promised "to preserve the purity of air itation of its endowments and achievements is still re~olent of and water, ensure reproduction of natural wealth and improve. brute force, monumentality and projects that dwarf and some the human environment." That lofry goal is honored mostly in the breach. Pollution in most urban areas is getting worse every times devour men. The U.S.S.R. has moved ahead of the rest of the world in year-not yet as bad as Los Angeles' or Detroit's, but getting the production of steel, pig iron and cement. It ranks second in there. The campaign to clean up the industrial filth in Lake Bai (he manufacture of aluminum as well as the extraction of gold kal- which became an international cause celebre-has been - the two metals that respectively symbolize the modern and the exception that proves the rule. Soviet environmentalists usu the primitive strengths of an economy. The Soviet Union's farms ally lose their battles against economic planners who arc trying produce more barley. cotton fiber, wheat. oats and rye than to meet short-term production quotas even if that means wast (hose of any other country and-an incongruous sweet touch ing resources or fouling the air, soil and water. - more sugar and honey. Huge petroleum reserves. second only It is as though the Soviet Union were too sprawl.il),g for its to those of Saudi Arabia, have made the country self-sufficient own good. too diverse to take care of itself without hurting it in energy, although that could change by the middle of this dec self, or as though none of those gods or prophets in whom its peo ade because of the difficulty in finding and exploiting oil and ple believe-particularly Marx- had intended for so heterogeWretched and abundallt,

Oppressed and power/ul,

Weak and mighty.

Mother Russia!

-Nikolai Nekrasov, Who

Can Be Happy in Russia?

TIME. JUNE 23.1980

...._ _ _....;,j SOO mL

ARCTIC

O CEA N

o o , ..,

KAZAKHST AN

tIt!1

f~1.

~~.::

Bal konUf

UZBEKISTAN

KMENISTAN

.=v".............

$. p o!c e

Center \

\ ~sl\ken: • I',

0 ' ,,'

4 .

KIRGI2~

~ Gas lield.

", :l ADZtIlKI~T

W Coal fields

co.1 beain

~ Operating nuclear reactors

TIME Map ':1 -; P.!ul J Pugli ese

ncous and far-flung a swath of humanity and real estate to be one nation. The, manifestations of the curse have been rough. often brutal. totalitarian rule and a populace that seems forever aggrieved, deprived. yet often submissive. These twin misfortunes were not born with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. They were present when the· Soviet So cialist Republics wen~ known as "All Russia " and their ruler cailed himself Tsar (from CaesarL One major theme thaI res onates through writings from the golden age of Russian liter ature. the 191.h century. is national self-pity. '·Oh. God , how sad our Russia is! " sighed Alexander PushIcin on reading Nikolai Gogol's Deod Souls. Today's Soviet citizens are better off than the peasants and urban poor thaL Poet Nekrasov eulogiLed. Lndeed. they are some what better off than they were ten years ago. But if not wretch ed. they are still oppressed and unhappy. Their state is might ier than ever. yet its ability to provide for their daily needs is inadequate. hc main rcason is a system tha t will not. and per ha ps Call1lOt. work_ The Soviet economy has always been stultilled by too much central pl~nning, too lit tle entrepreneurIal Incentive. Faetones. farms and individual workers are caught up in a machine that spews forth quotas and directives. sucks up output. ineflkiemly manufactures and distributes goods. and rarely rewards initia tive. Those deficiencics. inefficiencies and inflexibilities are now catching up with the economy and slowing it down. During the 19805. Western ex perts pred ict, the Soviet growth ra te wi II drop even lower than last year's estimated 0.7%. Moscow's econ omists will also face a plaruling nightmare: trying to meet the needs of the military and heavy industry_ and at the same time satisfying the ex pectations of consumers. Those expectations are subjected to constant. ubiquitous frustra tions. "The shopping Line·s almost define thc society ," re ports TIME Moscow Bureau Chief Bruce Nelan. "The stores are always out of something, Iowan something else. sometimes

TJM£. JUNE 23. t980

rationing flour. meat or butler. As the lines grov.' longer . the mood grows sour. Someone tries to jump a place. 'Get back l Don't think you're special l ' protests tbe chorus_ At the meat counter. two women carry suitcases. They draw knowing. re sentful glances. They are hoarders_ But they will bribe the bu tch er. fill their suitcases and perhaps be back later in the morning. "Cashiers overcharge routinely. often refuse to make cbange. or ignore custOmers while they chat on the phone. Muscovites complain about 'the cult of rudeness' of salespeople. who seem to take perverse satisfaction in disappointing. bullying or cheat ing customers. as though tbey were working off the frustration they have built up during their own hours in line shopping for their own families . ''The Soviet Union has one of the industrialized world 's worst distribution and retail trade systems. Thus this spring there are no sheets, underwear or children'S shirts_ 'We have money but nothing to buy: is a refrain of everyday Soviet life. Those who can make their own clothes find material scarce and expensive. For example, four yards of Rolyester fabric costs tbe equivalen t of $30: the same in an American store costs $2.50. Needles, thread , thimbles and buttons are also dejilsimy (the term for items in short supply. which often reaUy means impossible to find). The derks do not care. because they get pa id whether or not they sell anything. When goods can be purchased. they are likely to self-de-strucL The lining might come out of a suit on the third or fourth use. Household appliances burn out. Fur njture splinters and loses its veneer. But never mind . The plan is being fulfilled." Leonid Brezhnev has complained in several recent speech es about factories , costing millions of rubles, that have remained unfinished for more than a decade. The skyline along the Mos· cow River bas. for five years now. featured the new headquar ters for the government of the Russian Federation , the largest of the 15 Soviet republics. lL just stands there. ullopened . its in· terior unfinished-a joke among many Muscovites. but an em barrassment to many others. "1 love my country. " a Moscow economist says. "1 certainly 21

don't wam to leave it. But I'm so frustrated by the conditions, munist Party of the Soviet Union!). But pedestrians and mo LOrists ignore the slogalls. Virtually no one ever uses the wor Why does it have to be so hard ~ Everything in our history has al ways been a struggle. Everything is LOO centralized, There's no slava in everyday conversation, except in tbe very common initiative. I feel so belpless. I can '( change anything. I want the phrase, Slal'a BoglI. which means "Glory be to God." Yet the state goes right on repainting the billboards every year,

future to be better. But will it be? I know the statistic.:s on out People do read newspapers. listen to the radio, watch tele pm. butl don 't see the results."

The daily gri.nd and the seemingly ineradicable deficiencies vision and go to the movies. where they are also barraged with propaganda, ~ But with a lifetime of constant practice. Soviet of the system have had a corrosive effect on the morale of the so ciety, Akoholism is a growing problem. Demon vodka is a major citi zens develop a mental filter that allows them to block cause of divorce and crime. as well as of absenteeism, acciden ts OUI the ideological exhortations and Concentrate instead on en on the job and the poor productivity of Soviet workers. The cap lenaillment or just-the-facts news-to the extent that facts are italist world. of course. is in no position to preach lemperance printed. Most neighborhoods have a storefront agflpunkl (agitation to Communists. But Soviet drinking-- and dmnkenness--dif fers qualitatively from the proverbial American three-martini and propaganda point). which is festooned with slogans and lunch. When a Soviet opens a bottle of vodka. he frequently piled high with party literature. But when local residents stop means t,o finish iL. He is not just iJl to study tbe bulletin board and seeking relaxation or a release from ask questions of the official on duty, anxiety into elation: he will often the chances are they are interested drink himself straight into oblivion, in new regulations that might af The Moscow press has reported fect their lives or gossip about apart a disturbing increase in drunken ments about to become available, ness and crime--or "hOOliganism." They have minimal intere.st in the as it is called-among youth, So proper Marxist interpretation oflhe viet parents. in talks with Western latest event in international affairs or who is likely to win the upcom ers. complaLn openly about the cyn icism. acquisitiveness. materialism Lng election !O the district council. and "bourgeois values" of young Since all elections are limited to a people. single slate of candidates, there is lillie suspense. Propaganda , in Writing in the Teachers Gazelle, Secondary School Instructor A.I, short. has become the background noise of Soviet society. Gusev voiced a common concern: ,,[ was dismayed when I asked my The leadership is aware that tbe pupils why they took summer jobs people are tuning out. Bre7..hnev has complaLned that the state's "strong at a collective farm. Nearly all their and qualified propaganda appara answers began with the words 'to tus" is not doing a good job. "Not in buy' and 'to get'-jeans. a watch. a frequently. newspaper materia], motorcycle. a tape recorder, Why television and radio broadcasts are are so many of our youngsters be not convincing enough. lack a se coming overwhelmed with the pas rious overall view," He urged "ideo sion to make money?" logical front workers" to improve The answer. in pan. is that oth their product. especially in the er passions-to make a revolution. highly simplistic presentation of to establish justice, to build a LrtI foreign news. Meanwhile, Pravda Iy egalitarian society-have long editorialized lasi year against "lhe since dimmed in the U .S.S, R. Teen fear of discussing Ihe problems fac agers and students have absorbed in.g our society. the tendency to more completely than their parents smooth over and avoid unresolved the most discouraging and disillu problems, to blur real shortcomings sioning facts of Soviet Life. One fact and d ifficuities." is elitism, At universities and tech As any responsible government nical institutes. studen ts see a few would be. the regime is clearly wor of their classmates granted special ried about the catalogue of social ills privileges, admitted to more desir Massing to buy shoes in Moscow's GUM department store able programs and eventually given a/steel, but try ta filld sheets or a needle and Thread. -increasing alcoholism. crime. di vorce and youth problems-not so better jobs. all because their par much as a breakdown in ideology but as a breakdown in social ents are prominent or well-connected, Talent, brains and hard work do bring opportUtlities for upward mObility in the system. discipline. n is also c.:oncerned that these problems are occur rin.g just as the U.S.S,R, becomes more vulnerabl.e to "contam But so do status, pull. hustling and ruthlessness. ination by agitation and propaganda " from the West. Short ne of the lessons of a sov.iet edu.cation is th.at while wave broadcasts by the Voice of America, Radio Liberty, BBC one must know the Marxist-Lenllllst catech1sm . and and Deutsche Welle in Russian and other languages of the pany membership is a great asset. being a true be U ,S.S,R. provide generally reliable reporting and less ideolog liever is not necessary; it may even be a disadvan ical filler about events inside the Soviet Union than The Bea tage in a society where power enjoys more respect COIl, the nationwide hourly news program beamed from Mos and earns more reward thall ideological purity, A British For- cow. The Western radio stations also offer Soviet listeners eign Office expert on the U .S.S,R . sees the country as "rulllling tantalizing glimpses of capita.list life through feature stories and out of ideological elan with which to face tbe many challenges interviews. while pla yi ng the siren song of rock and folk music, of the future." One a wesOme statistical distioction of the U.S.S.R, is {he number of its movie Ideology is still an important. indeed inescapable, aspect of -thealers, there a re \ 54.000 of them , which is 58 % of all the cinemas in the Soviet life. Its trappings are everywhere. The country is plas world. The U,S, is second with only 16,000. One mason for this am3l1ng pro lit'eratiun is thai Soviet doctrine- especially before tbe advent Oflelevisioll- em tered with huge billboards. on buildings and highway overpass fIlm as a ntedium of propaganda and indoctrinalinn. AnOlher and es, proclaiming in white letters on red backgrounds, SLiVA pha;izcd perhaps more important ('cason is thaI tbe Soviets are eager for any enter TRUDU/ (Glory to Labo r!) and SLA VA KPSS' (Glory to the Com lain men t as a relief from bored'1m .

pie;;,)'

TIME, J U NE 23. 1980

at least temporarily with an ill which are immensely popular among Soviet youth. defined "authoritarian order founded on love of one's fellow Yel despite all of their man ." The Soviet Union's other hardships and disenchantments. giant of opposition. Physicist despite their fascination with Andrei Sakbarov. has been pro the world beyond their borders. most Soviets remain essentially mulgating a very different sort apolitical and certainly patriotic of dissent lately from his inter nal exile in the industriaL city of -an ideal combination of at trihutes, from the standpoint of Gorky . Sakharov is a liberal in the state. Their principal con the Western mold, a believer in pluralist democracy. But neither cerns are fairly familiar among people the world around: mak alternative seems to reflect the ing ends meet. get ling ahead aspira tions of the Soviet masses. as much as possible, staying For all their admirable courage. out of trouble. The West is the few thousand Soviet dissi much more enticing to them dents still at large have their ror its image of material abun Veterans of World War \I proudly display their medals in Red Square principal following in the West. dance. physical comfort and Alter celllllries o/illvasions. l/ sel/se 0/ embaTtled vulnerability. They sometimes behave like sense of vitality than for its dem high officials of a shadow gov ocratic values. intellectual freedoms and political institutions. ernment. hoping to get their manifestoes played back into the So viet Union by Western radio. but the resonance of those mes na recent article in Foreign A/fairs. Altxander Sol sages among their countrymen seems to be very faint. To the zhenitsyn describes from his exile in Vermont how a ex.tent that they have an impact. the dissidents are often dis peasant family in the middle of Russia wams simply missed by the general public as reckless dreame·rs or denounced to be left alone: "If only the petty local CommunJst as traiwrs. which is just the way the official press ponrays them. despot would so:uehow quit his uncontrolled tyran One reason for the man in the street's aversion to dissent is ny. if only they could get enough to eat for once. and buy shoes that political troublemakers historically have very often ended for the children. and lay in enough fuel for thc winter. if only they up in prison. or dead. SL,{ decades of totalitarianism have made could have sufficient space to live even two to a room." most Soviet citizens submissive. As a consequence of the Few Soviets accept Solzhenitsyn's messianic vision of a Rus U.S.S.R .·s current social and econ~mic ills. there is even a cer sia straining against its chains. yearning for some spiritual tain amount of popular sentiment that the leadership is not revolution that will throw off Communist rule and replace it cracking down hard enough.

M ost Equal of the Equals

he political system that eventu

will choose Leonid Hrezh T ally nev's successor as leader would

appear to be a model democracy . It is headed by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.. which is composed of 1.500 members and which elects a select body of 39 representative3 known as the Pre sidium. Cn fact , political power rests with a gigantic, self-protecting and self selecting bureaucracy that is effectively controlled by a small and cautious elite. The constitution adopted in 1977 -the fourth in the history of tbe U.S.S.R.- was the first to assert the primacy of the Communjst Party in Soviet government and Ii fe . The country's only lega.l party is identified as the "nucleus" of the system and its sole authority on ideology. To main tain control. the party tightly restricts its membership: a candidate must have been a member of Komsomol, the Communist youth organization, be recommended by three people who have each been members for three years, and pass other screening procedures, including serving a year on probation. Of the 193 million ci tizens who were 18 and older in 1979. only 16 million, or 9%, were party members. (In Khru shchev's day the figure was 6%. ) Ex cept for a few scientific administrators. virtually every responsible official in

TIM E , JUNE 23 . 1980

the Soviet government is a party mem ber. Although it is impossible to sep arate party from government. one point is clear: lhe party makes policy. At the lOp of the party pyramid is the Central Committee. whose 287 members include the most powerful individuals in the nation . Fourteen of the most equal among the equals on the Central Committee constitute the policy-setting Politburo. which has been carefulJy controlled for most of the past 16 years by Brezhnev and his circle. The Central CommiLtee chooses the General Secretary of the Communist Party, the most powerful position in the nation . The authority of the office that Brezhnev now holds is not defined by the constitution. nOf is its term. Stalin, who never held the presidency. was a dictator from 1929 until he died in 1953; Khrushchev was largely able to run things his way until he made a number of blunders (harming Soviet agriculture. widening the split with China) and the Central Committee threw him out. Brezhnev has relied on a coterie of al Iies and ex.ercised his power much more discreetly. Decisions of the Politburo are. in ef fect. adopted and carried out by an elab orate system of local. regional and na tional governments whose apex is the

Supreme Soviet. an elected parliament. This body consists of the Soviet of the Union. composed of750 members, each of whom represents a district of about 350,000; and lhe Soviet of the Nation alities. also composed of 750 members, including 32 from each of the 15 repub lics. The Supreme Soviet. which meets twice a year in the Kremlin , can raise and debate issues, and hence may af fect the decisions of the Central Com mittee. Officials claim that the general attitudes of a newly elected Supreme So viet sometimes influe·n ce the Politburo. But the legislators would never advocate a position known to be at variance with the views of the leadership. Indeed . members of the Presidium of the Su preme Soviet often also belong to the Central Committee. The Soviet masses who are oot par ty members can work through local or ganizations. such as trade "unions" and newspapers. lo influence policy; but these LOO are controlled by the party. The Supreme Soviet is elected every five years: there is just one slate of candi dates: the party·s. Tn March 1979, when the Supreme Soviet was last chosen, 99.990/0 of the eligible voters were said to have cast their ballots. TASS, the So viet news agency. declared: "By their unanimolls voting for the candidates. the Soviet people expressed complete sup port for the domestic and foreign pol icies of the Communist Party and the Soviet state."

of Moscow-the Kremlin . The very word means fortress. At its most macabre. this law-and-order semime.nt has crys This historical experience left the nation with a deep-seal tallized as scattered nostalgia for Stalin. Postcard-size photo grap s of the dictator sometimes decorate the windshields of ed sense ofembattled vulnerability-insecurity in the face. of Asi atic hordes to the east, inferiority in the face of more sophis UU k.s and taxis. Seeing Stalin 's picture in a book, over the shoul er of a Westerner. a Russian woman in her 50s sighed . "Ah , ticated . more cohesive Europea n civilizations [0 the wes!. Other t ere was a real man , a real leader!" lcgacies are a faith in strong armed forces and weak neighbors. :\nother reason for the Soviets' basic acceptance of their lot and a reliance on institutionalized distrust in the form of an ' - hat despite all the discontents and deprivations . their stan al l-powerful secret police. dard of living has unquestionably improved. Says a Moscow espite the fact that he was a Georgian who never housewife: "You have to remember where we started , After the learned to speak Russian without a heavy accent, ar. my mother had to get water from the courtyard . then heat Stalin succeeded in consolidating the most formi ii on a kerosene stove, shave the soap and do the washi ng on a .hboard, Now we have hot running water." dable tyranny of all time. partly because he made She. like most of her compatriots. wa nts to be proud of her himself the guardian of Mother Russia in the face ... um r). She dings to the notiol1-whjch official propaganda of real and perceived fore ign enemies, Since thcn . the U .S.S.R, does everything it can to encourage-that the Soviet Union is has made a fetish out of strengqleni ng its mi litary defenses :'is good as any other cOlmtry . or at least if it lags behind in agaiJlst external challenges. - me ways, then that is because the world is a dangerous place But Stalin's successors have yet to deal with a burgeoning in and the U.S.S.R. must look first to its defenses. terna l threat to fonress-Moscow. Trus is the growth of national ' <0»0' 0 pride and self-assertion on the Soviet love of country has an elemental quality that tran part of non-Russian peoples of scends politics and ideology, As the Soviet Union. Their awak patriots, Soviet 9itizens tend to ened nationalism now competes be fundamenralists-- and very with the Russian nationalism forgiving ones where the sins of that has underlain the coulltry's highly dc.fensi ve brand of patri their father figures are con otism for more than 60 years, Be cerned . Even after the horrors calise of high birth rates in rna ny of Stalinism, they are mucp less of the non-Slavic regions of the inclined than other peoples U .S,S. R, and their own virtua.!

--notably including Americans - -to question the basic virtue of zero population growth. Rus

their nation or to question their sians now constitute only 52.4% of the citizenry. By the end of rulers' commitment to peace. 11 ~ the century they wilJ lhemse.!ves is difficult to imagine the be a minority of the entire U .S.S. R. undergoing the sort of population. national paroxysm of self-doubt, This demographic time self-criticism and self-flagella bomb is rick.ing away slowly in tion that gripped the U,S. dur side the Soviet economy , Further ing the Viet Nam War. industrialization is increasingly Most Soviets instinctively vital to Soviet economic prog- l share their leaders' professed ress: most fac tories . however. are nightmare of "encirclement by in the western part of the coun our enemies." Even without the try, wh.ile in largely undeveloped reminders of official propagan Muezzin Gamid Javadov calling Muslim believers to prayers in Baku Central Asia overpopulation is da, many citizens vividly re Toleran ce (IS Islamic militancy rises on the borders, accompanied by underemploy member the devastating horror of World War II, in wh.ich 20 million Soviets died. "T he Great meni. So far. Soviet economic planncrs havc not come up 'Nith Patriotic War" is a dee p, painful wound that has yet to beal. J n a way of moving either the industrial base or the growing work force so as [0 bring them together. conversations with Westerners about current events and the dan The prospect ofa Sovie t Ullion in which non-Russians out ger of World War HI. Soviets often run through an honor roll of/ong-dead relatives " who never returned from the front. ·· At number Russians has prompted some reactionary impulses a mong the old men of the KremLin. who believe deeply in the a concert in the theater of Moscow's Rossiya Hotel. Soviet Bari tone Joseph Kobl on brought an audjence of 3,OOO- -many of fundamental Russianness of the country. The innocuous-sound ing but powerful All-Russian Society for the Protection of His them wearing campaign medals-to tears with patriotic bal torical and Cultural Monuments has served increasingly as an lads. Behind him . a giant screen showed scenes of starvation dur outlet for all offic iaUy sanctioned resurgence of Slavophi lism, ing the siege of Leningrad , the carnage of the Ba tlle of Sta 1ingrad , and the ecstatic trainside reunions of homecoming Many top officers of the armed forces worry about non-Rus sians some day dominating the military , Th.is fear has con soldiers with their loved ones. tribuled to thc growth of a mystery-shrouded fraternal society called Rodina (the Motherland ). wh ich has come perilously close lmost every city and to'wn has an exquisitely land , sca ped, monumentally columned s?rine to local war to crossing the boundary from Soviet patriotism to Russian chauvin ism , i dead , The eternal flame IS sometImes guarded by smartly uniformed teen-agers, frequently girls. who ,Even among feUow Sla vs there are sharp tensions. Russians . often carry Kalashnikov assault rifles, Memory of tend to rega re! Ukrainians as ne'er-do-well country cousins. an alti tude that UkraIJlians. with their distinct cultural traditions the war easily transjate-s into public willingness to make eco and strong eihnic pride,' resent and resist. Out of deference to nomic sacrifices for the sake of military preparedness. Soviet policy toward both tbe world outside and their I1umbcrs-42 million. the second largest nationality-the the U ,S.S.R. 's own ethnic minorities is deeply rooted in Soviet leadership has sought to create a bmited partnership with long-standing Russian xenophobia, Over the centuries, the the Ukrainians. They are the only non-Russians to have sig Russians beat back wave afte·r wave of fo reign invaders, ab nificant represen tation in the central elite, sorbing some but seeking to ward off others by the continual Meanwrule, in the urban areas of Transcaucasia and Cen concentric accretion of buffer terrilory around the core of tral Asia, Russian is steadily encroacJling on natj ve languages Muscovy, At the center of Muscovy-Moscow , At the center among young people. They have the option of a ttending classe.s

tau

k.n l pel

Fn ag( cas

nat

spe on erl1 ani

fes:

nel

pel d~

th of

TIM E. J UNE 23. 1980

Wori<er in a machine-tool manufacturing plant In Georgia

In those cases, the Soviet army garrisons out side those cities were put on alert and used for crowd control. A U.S. Government Kremlin ologist has hypothesized that if it were not for the presence of Moscow's military and security forces, as many as seven of the J 5 Soviet re publics would exercise their constitutional right to secede from the U.S.S.R . But it i's not just force of arms that keeps the union whole. The central government has deliberately pursued a policy of relative permjs siveness toward Islamic culture, which unites about 43 million Soviet citizens, nearly one-sixth of the total popuiation. Since Lenin's time. the Kremlin has been sensitive to the danger that heavyhanded atheistic propaganda and cultural repression migh t trigger a replay of the 1916 Muslim revolts that broke out against the Tsar in Central Asia. With Islamic militancy em broiling the Soviet Union's southern neighbors, from Turkey to Pakistan, the Kremlin leader ship is treading carefully lest it stir up restless ness among its own Muslims. Officials insist that Marxism-Leninism re spects the separation of mosque and state. Re ligion. they say , must be given a chance to die a natural death; they will do nothing to hurry it along. Nonetheless, Khelyam Khudaiberdiyev. an official of Uzbekistan's radio and televi sion station in Tashkent, insists that "only one in 100 of us is a practicing beLiever* In a big family. there might be an old aunt who will still pray. My mother prays, for instance. She's 80." Salyk Zimanov , a member of the Academy of Sciences of Ka zakhstan . sums up the official view, with its overtones of con descension: "Religion seems to exercise its strongest influence at funerals . That's when these people who call themselves mul lahs turn ouL"

taught in local languages. but they know-and their parents know-that upward and outward mobility in Soviet society de pends on being able to converse fluently with a Muscovite. In Frunze. ca pital of the Central Asian republic of Kirgizia, middle aged government officials speak heavily accented Russian: oc casionally they need help in translating expressions from their native language, which is related to Turkish . In the provinces, visiting Russians are still toasted as "our re spected elder brothers," but Soviet propaganda plays skillfully on the theme that the country as a whole-the entire broth erhood of nationalities-is doing spectacular things in the world. and that all ethnic groups are benefiting. Says Harvard Pro fessor Adam Ulam: "There is a consciousness of national great imanov may miss the point of his own observation:

ness, a sense that the Soviet Union is now ooe of the two su a cultural or spiritual force that is strongest in so

perpowers, that its influence js rising while the West's is ciety when people deal with death is not necessar

declining. Psychologically, that has been a very strong factor in ily a dying force. Perhaps the cont.rary. In Central

Asia , local authorities have tried to give military fu

the average Soviet's attitude toward the regime. He is conscious of his prestige in the world.,. nerals to soldiers kjlled in aClion against the Afghan rebels; on

Will Moscow's two-track policy of Russitkation and So vietization enable the U.S.S.R. to survive as the world's last mul "T here are no rel iable figures on religious observance in the U .S,S,R .. but in tinational empire? Some Western experts, with more than a their own propaganJa pamphlets. printed in Arabic for distribution in Islamic touch of wishful thinking in their speculation. predict that the countries of the Middle East , Soviet authorities claim lhal more than half of the country's Muslims are believers. Thal statistic may be an exaggerati on. in U.S.S.R. will come apart along its Muslim seams in the south lended 10 enhance tnc Soviel claims of religious tolerance. but the percentage of and east. Others, including National Security Adviser Zbigniew practicing Muslims is certainly many limes grealer than 1%. Brzezinski, also look for trouble in Eastern Eu

rope, particularly in Brzez.inski's native Poland.

Columbia University's Seweryn Bialer agrees.

Until now. he says. the Soviets have been for

tunate that uprisings have broken out in only

one country at a time in Eastern Europe-East

Germany, J953; Hungary. 1956; Czechoslo

vakia , 1968. "They will not be so lucky in the

'80s." he predicts.

At the moment. however, there are no signs that any unrest is getting out of control, nor would a fresh outbreak of trouble necessarily threaten to break up the empire. In Eastern Eu rope the presence of 31 divisions of Soviet troops discourages excessive independence or disorder, such as the food-price fiots that rocked Poland in 1970. There are also garrisons outside the capitals of the Central Asian republics. The soldiers stationed there, in the main, are from other parts of the country rather than local boys: if they were ever ordered to quash an uprising, they would not be firing on their ethnic kinsmen. There were scattered but serious anti-Rus sian riots by the Uzbeks of Tashkent in 1966 A phalanx of humming generators In a hydroelectric plantin Bratsk, Siberia and 1969 and the Tadzhiks of Dushanbe in J978. An advanced, and still advancing, society o/humall and natural ric/mess. TIME. J UNE 23, 1980

Lenin's portralt-and legacy-looms over the meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. In the Kremlin's Palace

they have access to hard-currency stores, and because of their comparatively generous government stipends and their notori etyas black marketeers. On a bus or a metro car, a dark-skinned foreigner will often hear someone behind him muttering "Cher nomazy " (literally blackface, but every bit as insuiting as n addition to treading carefully in its policies toward " nigger"). Orientals, however, inspire a reaction that is tinged not just Islam, tbe regime has also tried to neutralize anti Russian sentiment by buying off the populations of with racism but with fear. Vietnamese, Koreans, Mongolians, Transcaucasia and Central Asia with material ben and even Soviet Central Asians often find that early in a con versation with Russians they have to establish clearly that they efits and protection. The citizens of Soviet Azerbai jan live more prosperously, and certainly more calmly, than their are not Chinese, or pro-Chinese, before their hosts lower their guard . Says a young Muscovite: "Wheo we see yellow skin and ethnic cousins in the northwestern provinces ofTran. The Mus lim groups that straddle the Sino-Soviet border, for example, slanted eyes, we automatically walJ.t to know, is this guy nash fone of ours]? Is he on our side?" 'If an American talks inter have traditionally fared somewhat better under Moscow's tute lage than Peking's. The Russians' fast-approaching status as a national politics with a Russian, the subject of China is sure to come up. Sooner or later, the Russian is likely to lean forward minority in their own country forces them to be more compro mising than the Han Chinese, who make up more than 90% of and say, almost in so many words, "We white folks have got to stick together." the 1 billion citizens of the People's Republic . Soviets of all nationalities seem more offended by Wash Largely because of its huge population-four times that of the U .S.S.R.-China remains an obsession with the Soviets. ington's increasing cooperation with China than by the Olym When Kremlin leaders look to the east, they see two nightmares pic boycott, the grain embargo, or any of the otherpost-Af MEYER ghanistan anti-Soviet pol coming together: their icies.ofthe Carter Admin most numerous and im istration. placable foreign enemies Yet for all their fear in China, and the demo of the Chinese and their graphic challenge of their anger at the American tilt fast-breeding, ethnically toward Peking, Soviets ap alien compatriots in Cen pear somewhat more san tral Asia. It is for this rea guine about their ability to son that the most intense contain what some still manifestation of Russian call "the yellow peril" xenophobia is Sinophobia. than they did a decade On the streets of Moscow, ago. Says Alexander Va for example, the occasjon kov!ev, a leading Sinolo al Chinese visitor inspires gist at Moscow's Institute something palpably di fTer for the Study of the Far ent from and deeper than East: "China does not the resentment that Mus have the military strength covites display toward the to threaten world peace on thousands of Third World its own, and even the mil exchange students who at itary and economic aid of tend Patrice Lumumba Friendshi p of Peoples the U.S. and other West University. Those foreign Politburo leaders: Klrilenko, Suslov, Brezhnev; second row, Pelshe, Vietor Grlsh ern countries will not ers are unpopular because in, Nikolai TIkhonovj third row, Romanov, Andropov, Ustinov, Gromyko make a big difference." a few occasions, these attempts met with violent resistance by vil lagers who wanted their sons buried according to Islamic cus tom, not the dictates of the state. The authorities moved quick ly to hush up the incidents.

TIME. JUNE 23, 1980

~ The U.S.S.R. ~- - -

No maHer how self-serving and dubious, such predictions in dicate a new confidence that has come with the U.S.S.R .'s recent auainment of superpower status. That accomplishment has been largely the work of Leonid Brezhnev and his comrades. When the present collective leadership took over from Khrushchev in 1964, the Soviet armed forces lagged bebind the U.S. in every im portant category of strategic weaponry. Now they have caught up across the board and pulled ahead in some areas.

guns and butter, to. raise the standard o.f living a bit, and to reach military equality with the West. They had many prob lems, but no.ne that developed into. a systemic crisis. Therefore it has been generally an extraordinarily successful period in their histo.ry. Nor has it been a sho.rt period. Brezbnev has been in office longer than Roosevelt was. It is a whole era." Nonetheless, the Brezhnev leadership has not prepared well either fer a transfer o.f power at the top o.r for the future of the s0. ciety as a who.le. Sensing that failing, many Soviets are fearful his fact reinforces the average Soviet citizen's pa that there may be harder days ahead . Reports TIME Corre triotism, even if he is otherwise apolitical. Says Har spondent Nelan: "Go.vernment officials admit privately that the vard's Ulam: "The Soviet pa.triot believes that the econo.my is a mess, that things are unquestio.na.bly going to. get function of tbe state is to be as powerful as pos worse. There is an atmo.sphere of a.pprehension. Everyone is sible. He remembers that tsarist Russia was defeat waiting to. see what will come after the present aging, ill and in ed in World War I; now his co.untry is one o.f the two greatest flexible o.ligarchy passes from the scene. The ho.pe is for more dy influences in the entire world . This is a son of surrogate for his namism-if not a,fter Brezhnev himself, then after an interim, sufferings. Whatever else it has done to him, Co.mmunism has transitional successor. But that is only a ho.pe." made Russia a much more powerful country." The o.dds are against such hopes being realized . One reason Brezhnev and his comrades, moreo.ver, have accomplished is that the present leadership and the leadership system as a the buildup without resorting to. mass terror Dr wholesale purg whole work against dynamism. A management team that can es. They have presided over 16 years of political stability-"the not, or will net, transfer po.wer to a younger generatio.n of ex first such period since the rev ecutives except by the at Olution," says British Histo.ri trition of mortality is by an Leonard Schapiro.. Nikita definition guilty of misman Khrusbchev, while a much agement. The Brezhnev Polit mere sympathetic figure in buro is like an aging board of many ways, ordered reforms directors that bas no compul o.ne day. crackdewns the next. sory retirement policy, no ad and engaged , as his cecnrades equate pension plan and no. turned-usurpers charged, in tradition of heno ring emeritus "hare-brained schemes." His directo.rs. So each board mem was a manic-depressive lead ber hangs on and on, becom ership. Before him were 25 ing increasingly shortsighted years ef Stalin's go.vernment as he beco.mes increasingly by massacre. The to11: at least sclerotic. Such a corporation, 20 million dead in camps, no. matter how large and pow prisons and famines. Before erful, wo.uld net recommend that, the civil war, the reve itself as a long-term invest ment. There is no. reason to lutien, and centuries o.f up heaval under the Tsars. expect that the members of The Brezhnev leadership the post-Brezhnev leadership, has. for a while at least, or tbe one after that, will re brought some erder to tbe tur form .the gerontocracy once they have risen to the lOp. moil ofSoviet history. For that Whatever its other ac it almost certainly gets credit Brezhnev being awarded tile Lenin Peace Prize on March 3 with much of the populace. To Credit/rom the populace/or bringing order fo turmoil. complishments, the Brezhnev be sure, the present leaders leadership has done nothing have not fo.und a way to. keep meat in the grocery sto.res o.r un to. amelio.rate the pro.blems of excessive centralizatio.n in eco. derwear in the department sto.res. Nor have they loosened the nomic planning, of the stagnatio.n and proliferation of bureau reins o.f repression during the past 16 years. AI the same time, cracy and of political patrenage that rewards sycophancy and ho.wever, material conditio.ns are easier, and life has settled into caution while discouraging innovation. These facts of Soviet a co.nsistent, predicta ble no.rm that avoids the extremes of Khru life, which have stifled dynamism for decades, are now more shchev's erratic liberalization and Stalin 's relentless terror. Fer deeply embedded in the system than ever. Inefficiency and in many Soviets, that is reassuring, especially against the backdrop flexibilit y have been institutionalized, not just in the econo.my o.f their co.untry's new prestige and power abroad . but in the political system itself. Curing that problem wo.uld almost certainly mean making The Soviet leaders claim to. be the cuslOdians o.f a great rev o.lutionary tradition . No.thing could be further fro.m the truth . drastic changes in the very structure o.f Soviet society, as well as They are among the most co.nservative leaders en earth, and in its ideolo.gical foundatio.ns. To do so would require a degree o.f their conservatism is basically co.mpatible with the aspirations fo.resight and boldness that, up until now, the system has sup of a people whose lives have been torn apart at regular in pressed, and it would risk unleashing sudden, unpredictable tervals throughout their history. Soviet foreign policy, with all change and upheaval in a country where both are anathema. Nevertheless, fer all their hankering after ord.e r and con its unabashed sponsorship of radicals and "wars of national lib eratio.n." is essentially a means of keeping the U.S.S.R .'s en tinuity, the Russians have surprised the world, and themselves, emies off balance if not under control and thus making the before. They could do so. again. It was in the co.ntext of an ad world safe for Soviet Communism. That same mOlive lay . be mission o.f his inability to "forecast to you the actio.ns" of the hind the invasion of Afghanistan in December. U.S.S.R. that Winston ChurchiH made his famous statement in The hallmark of the Brezhnev leadership has been to. com 1939: "Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enig bine an expansive fo.reign policy, a fonnidable military buildup ma." Less well remembered but equally trenchant was what he and a period of sustained do.mestic political stability. Says Co said next: "But perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian na lumbia 's Bialer: "I see the 1960s and '70s as a very benign pe tional interest." Fo.ur decades later, the U.S.S.R. is still enig riod in Soviet histo.ry. It is quite possible thal future historians. matic, even- perhaps especially-to itself; and it is still trying wiLl say this was the greatest, the best period in their history. It to unlock the enigma of its own future by figuring o.ut where its was a society that for the fil'St time was able to. provide both interests Ii.e. • TIME. JUNE 23. 1980

Moscow's Military Machine An elite officer corps, and all the conscripts an army could want are minor crimi.nals. political is a ritual as reg dissidents and those who ular as the seasons. . barely pass the physical and On one day every mental examinations. These spring and autumn, battalions often work in re railway stations across {he mote. harsh regions of the Soviet Union are festooned country. with patriotic banners, bands blare stirring martial The Soviet na vy demands

rhythms, and local dignitar three years of service; army

and air force draftee·s spend ies make speeches praising two years in uniform. Al soldierly virtues. Then, as though women are not being crowds of tearful friends and relatives wave farewelI, anx conscripted. an estimated ) 0,000 volunteers now serve ious young men climb aboard the waiting train: they are the in such noncom bat roles as nurse and clerk. Only about current crop of 18-year-old 12% of Soviet males escape Soviet draftees--·about 1 mil military service. Many of lion a year- heading off to these fall below the armed begin their military service. forces ' physical and mental After basic training and in standards; others are given doctrination at the camps, in hardship waivers to stay variably hundreds of miles An honor guard of air force cadets braces smartly at Moscow's airport home and support infirm par from their birthplaces, they "You are urged 10 appear." says th e postcard/rom the draft board. ents or wives. Some Western will take a solenU1 oath to de

fend the motherland "with all my strength decade, the Soviet tan k force has grown experts believe that it is relatively easy for uni versity students to avoid active mili and in honor, without sparing my blood by 35%, artillery by 40%, fixed-wing tac tical aircraf t by 20%. On average, one new tary service. Technically, however, every and without regard for my life."

able-bodied male at a university or other With this vow, they formally become medium-range SS-20 mobile missile sys tem, with three warheads, is deployed advanced institution is supposed to take part of one of their country's most im reserve officer training and become a ju portant institutions. The role played in every week. Twenty new warships are de World War IT by what was then called livered to the Soviet navy every year. vs. nior lieutenant at graduation. After serv ing six months in uniform. they enter the twelve for the U.S. in 1979. the Red Army as savior of the mother active reserves and undergo frequent re land is still vividly remembered and cel While Moscow's ever enlarging arse ebrated. Military themes pervade Soviet nal is expensive, its military manpower training. All Soviet males have some re literature. cinema and television. Beyond is relatively cheap. accounting for less serve obligations until age 50 and are pe that, the might of the Kremlin 's military than 30% of defense spending. By con· riodica lly called back into uniform. juggernaut alone gives the Soviet Union trast , personnel costs devour 53.4% of the fter two months of basic {rain legitimate claim to superpower rank. $131 billion U.S. military budget. Mos ing tha t is similar to U.S. boot cow's source of cheap manpower: con There is much pride but little exagger camp, the draft.ees join their as ation in the statement by Moscow's De scription. Every Soviet male must regis fense Minister Dmitri Ustinov that " the ter with his local draft board at age 17. A L - _ " : - ' " signed active units. They have Soviet military has everything it needs to year later, under the Universal Military already received extensive paramilitary preparation. Before draft age, all Soviet fulfill worthily its sacred mission . . . The Service Law of 1967, he receives an of Soviet Union has the military capability ficial postcard that simply states, "You males are given 140 hours of military training at school or work. The armed ser are urged to appear" at an induction cen to complement its foreign policy." vices, moreover, sponsor voluntary orga ter. Those who fail to do so without a le In the critical area of strategic weap onry, the Soviets now enjoy, overall, what gitimate excuse are subject to arrest and nizations whose activities have military application. Among them are sports clubs some expens call "essential equivalence" face up to ten years of hard labor. Un derstandably, draft dodging is very rare. that specialize in marksmanship. grenade with the U.S. SALT 11 will not affect Mos throwing, navigating and parachuting. When reporting for service, the draft cow's numerical lead in several categories. The life of the Soviet draftee is not ee is channeled into a military branch. The U .S.S.R. is ahead 1,398 vs. 1,054 in in tercontinental ball istic missile launchers, Though he can indicate his preference, he easy. Indeed, Soviet authorities often jus must accept the draft board's decision . tify its harshness by citing the famed 18th 950 vs. 656 in submarine-launched bal listic missiles and an estimated 7,836 vs. Generally, those with good records and century Russian General Alexander Su the highest inteLlige.n ce are sent to the air vorov, who said: "Difficurt in training, 3.253 in megatonnage, an important mea force, the strategic rocket forces or the easy in baltle.·' sure of a nuclear arsenal's sheer destruc navy. Non-Slavs, however, are usually ex Suvorov would probably be pleased ti.. . e force. Soviet conventional military muscle is cluded from these elite units. Says Rand with today 's Soviet military. The typical equally impressive. While the U .S. and Corporation Analyst S. Enders Wimbush: barracks is a long t.wo-stOry wooden hut "Soldiers are clearly recruited in a way with beds so crammed together tbat they many of its NATO allies have been trim ming their armed forces for the past dec tha t reflects the worries ofsociety. The a v touch . The soldier's only token of privacy ade. (he Soviets have been expanding erage Russian citizen and Soviet decision is a small wooden locker in which he theirs. As a result, their 3.6 million-man maker have questions about the allegiance keeps his uniform , two sets of underwear, active force is nearly twice the size of the of the non-Slav, especially the Ce~ltral shaving gear. a toothbrush and a few oth US. military and second in the world only Asian. " Typically, ethnic minority draft. er permitted personal items, such as pho to China's 4.4 million. During the past ees are sent to construction battalions, as tos and letters. Latrines are often no more 1

TIME. JUNE 23 . 1980

and fleet admirals of the Soviet U 11 ion reporting on the poli tica I reLia bility of

thana row of holes in the ground. Hot wa ter is rare and usually saved for "sanitary are paid 2.000 rubles monthly. about the their fellow officers and the enlisted men . In Stalin's day. political commissars day," when troops take their once-a-week same as a Cabinet minister. More impor tant than salary. however. is the officers' could countermand the orders of line of shower. One hygienic measure that is rig ficers. This is no longer (rue. but the party orously enforced: draftees' heads are access to luxuries unavailable to most So still dominates thc military. No profes clean-shaven. Among other advantages. viet citizens. Officers enjoy ti'ee annual va 'the young troops are easy to spot off base. cations at exclusive resorts, top-quality sional soldier serves on either the Polit buro or the Central Committee's power

Cabbage. potatoes, macaroni. kasha housi ng and privileges at shops that car ful Secretariat. (Defense Minister Usti (cooked buckwheat), bread, fish. tea and ry scarce imported foods. nov's primary military experience was a bit of meat normally make up the draft otential career officers are re managi ng defense-related industries.) ees' diet. On special holidays. fruit and cruited when still in high Not that the military is without clout. jam are added . The troops down their fare school. After passing a difficult There appears to be a symbiotic relation quickly. Reason: The last to finish must written examination and two ship between the military and the party

clean the mess-hall table. Soviet draftees have little chance for female contACt. interviews. they enroll for five years in one leadership that Rand Corporation Expert While they can leave base olle day each of the Soviet Union's more than 150 mil- Benjamin Lambeth sums up as a "mu month, many do not do so, because the itary colleges. At graduation they become tual accommodation in which the mili nearest village is often beyond walking jUIlior lieutenants. All eventually join the tary accepts the legitimacy of the party's distance. Longer furloughs are granted Communist Party and are expected to re- supremacy in return for getting resources only as a special favor or for emergency main in uniform th.roughout their profes for force de velopment." The Soviet military faces some prob reasons. On rare occasions, a divisional sional careers, even if repeatedly passed command may organize "social evenings" over for promotion. The best officers are lems that could impair its capabilities in sent to one of the U.S.S.R .'s eleven gener- extended combat. One difficulty is mount and bring prostitutes onto the base. Between 6 a.m. reveille and 10 p.m. al staff colleges for up to three years of ad- ing ethnic tension as more non-Slavic mi lights out, the conscript normally has vanced tr auling. Graduates of these insti- norities join the ranks. Name-calling is about two hours of free time. One familiar tutes are much respected by their peers in common and fights are frequent. Another the West. Says a West German defense problem is the reluctance of Soviet officers escape from boredom and routine is alco hoL Buying liquor, however. is difficult. expert: "In theory. strategy and tactics, to take initjative. They have been trained

Draftees earn a mere four rubles a month Soviet military training is top grade." Es- to prize iron discipline, they believe in (about $6), enough for 13 bottles of beer or pecially admired are the senior com- conforntity (0 a highly centraUzed com a third of a liter of vodka or a dozen packs manders. such as Marshal Nikolai Ogar- mand system. and-above all-they fol of cigarettes. Because draftees are short of kov, 62. the Chief of Staff, and Fleet low orders. But on a modern battlefield, Admiral Sergei Gorshkov. 70.. Command - communications can easily be cut and unit cash, the Soviet military has a theft prob lem. Auto parts, grease, rope, felt boots. er of the Navy. Says KJ'emIi nologist John formations disrupted . Under these condi heavy overcoats and other items in short Erickson. director of defense studies at the tions. Soviet officers might not be able to supply for civilians are smuggled off base University of Edinburgh: "'They are very take advantage of sudden opportunities to nearby viUages and sold or bartered for able. very tough and on a par with the best and improvise winning tactics. Despite these problems. the Soviet liquor. Soviet soldiers are as adept as their military brains in the West." In a special group, without counter- military is likely to become even more for counterparts elsewhere in the world at concocting an alcoholic brew from such parts in the West. are the estimated 100,- rnidable i.n the ·80s. If nothing else, it is unusual sources as after-shave lotion. 000 zampolil, or political officers. As- gaini.ng its .first intensive combat expe brake Huid, plane deicer and even shoe signed to every unit down to the company rience since World War 11 in trying to level , they are responsible for indoctrina t- quash guerrilla opposition in Afghanistan. polish. Less than 6% of the recruits decide to ing the troops with Communist Party ide- Although it now appears that Soviet forc remain in uniform beyond their draft ology. They give lectures on patriotic dues are having more trouble tban they term. The backbom: of the Soviet military, ties, recite editorials from the Soviet press. probably anticipated, Western military as in most nations, is its corps of 4{)0.000 stage amateur theatricals and lead eXCUf- experts believe that the initial invasion sions to local war memorials and battle- was an impressive military operation. The commissioned officers and 1 million non grounds. One other important task: Soviet forces. which were commanded by coms. The gulf between draftee and offi 51<.Ov- S1" ,,,,,,,,," Marshal Sergei Sokolov, 68, cer is enormous. Neos live demonstrated that they had with their families in rela mastered the techniques of tively comfortable housing airlifti.ng enormous quanti either on or off base, shop in ties of men and supplies. co commissaries carrying spe ordinating air and ground cial food and goods and attacks. and controlling the have one month of vacation action on a distant battle each year. They earn com field via complicated satel paratively high wages; the lite communications sys Soviet equivalent of a staff tems. And . as the· U .S. did sergeant with ten years of in Viet Nam, the Soviet experience makes 60 rubles command is battle-testing 15.90) a month-roughly its weapons and officers. ""hat a high school teacher Assessing the Afghan inva is paid . Commissioned officers sion, Edinburgh's Erickson says. 'If Brezhnev had do even better and rank 'gher in prestige than law asked the general staff back _ers and doctors. An army in 1973: 'Can you carry off 'or lieutenant with three such a campaign?' the an rs of service makes swer would have heen no. t 150 rubles monthly. N ow the general staff says, 10neI's 500 rubles a 'We can.' This is a devel ih is roughly equal to opment that the Western al earnings of a factory liance can ignore only at its r; the 48 marshals Young trainees hustling througtl a drill during their session In boot camp peril. " •

itancy in the U.S, "Your desire to control the oil-producing areas of the world is driving a frantic effort to enlist other countries in (his region to that goal," says Bykov. "What is so often forgotten in the Eyeball to eyeball with the bad news bears U.S. is tha t for us, that area is on our door step. The situation is similar to what reductions in the Soviet arsenal: his un etente means the relaxation of len seemly rush to normalize diploma[ic re might arise south of the Rio Grande: sions between nations. By that def America would certainly be sensitive to inition, the detente era in Soviet- lations with Peking, grant China most Amer ican relations is over. Since Soviet favored-nation status and sell it military instability on its borders: ' equipment; his saber rattling over tbe be III other words, the Kremlin argues troops poured into Afghanistan in De lated discovery last August of a Soviet that it would be more tolerant ofa U.S. in cember. Washington's policy toward Mos vasion of Mexico than the Carter Admin cow has been almost exclusively punitive: combat brigade 1n Cuba. As an overall complaillt, the Soviets istration has been over the Soviet thrust a boycott of the Olympics, a partial em bargo on grain sales, tightened restrict ions say the Carler Admulistration has been into Afghanistan . What is officially eu on higb-technology exports. The SALT" guilty of "vacillation and inconsistency," phemi7ed in Moscow as "the recent events treaty that Jimmy Carter and Leonid of sh iftulg policies and switchmg signals. ill Afghanistan" is, according to Bykov, Brezhnev signed a year ago this week may 'The present leadersl1ip in Washington "a peripheral issue that exacerbates the die on tbe Senate sheU. After more than has never adopted one line to which we overall strained relationship between our could adjust or respond ," says a Soviet dip a month in office, Secretary of State Ed countries." lomat. echoing a view shared by many mund Muskie has yet to meet with So Afghanistan, however, is clearly any critics of the Administration m Western viet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin. Mus thing but peripheral. By their virtual an kie did meet on May 16 with Foreign nexation of the country, the Soviets Minister Andrei Gromykoin Vienna, have made its fate central to their but their exchange consisted largely most fundamental disagreement with of reviewing mutual recriminations. tbe V .S. At issue: What rules should Each side has a long list of charges govern the rivalry now that the against the other. U.S.S.R. has emerged as a true su Beyond the immedjate points of perpower. coequal with the U.S. in mili (.a ry migh t? contention, anti-Soviet opinion in the V .S. has crystallized around three That question has arisen only general, related concerns: first, the in the past few years, as the U.S.S.R. has caught up with the V.S . in the U.S.S,R. continues to build up its accumulation of weapons that would military cap.'1bility beyond levels that be used if the two countries ever seem justified by the legitunate need went to war with each other. From to defend itself; second, it has be Moscow's viewpoint, the question gun in recent years brazenly and dis was given particular force by the ruptively to project its power into Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the Third World; and third, Soviet John Kennedy faced down Nikita encroachments in mineral-rich Af- Carter and Brezhnev at 1979 meeting to sign SALT II K hrushchev and forced him to re rica, the oil-rich Middle East and The need next lime is to blink simultaneOll sly. move Soviet rockets from the is the sea lanes of the Pacific threaten Europe and the V.S . The Soviets are es land. A relieved Dean Rusk, then Sec the vital economic interests of the West ern democracies and Japan. The Soviet pecially bitter over one shift in Carter's retary ofSta[e, added a memorable phrase policy. They say he deliberately tricked to the annals of diplomacy when he com Union is seen as exploiting-if not ac tually instigating- new problems for the the U .S.S.R. into think ing tha.t it might mented at the time: ;'We were eyeball capitalist world. ''The Soviet tendency be a diplomatic partner i.n the Middle to eyeball. and the other fellow just East. In the fall of 1977, a jOlllt u.S.-Soviet blinked ." in recent years to take advantage of tar An aide to Brezhnev told TIME that gets of opportunity- incrementally, de statement on the Middle East was finally liberately, persistently- raises questions scrapped after Egyptian President Anwar the party chief came to office in 1964 in Congress and among the public about Sadat's surprise initiative toward Israel m.indful of one lesson learned from the the V.S.S.R.'s commitment to detente," Carter then launched the Camp David missile crisis- namely that the Soviet Muskie told TIME last week. "It raises process. Tn the Soviet view, tbe U.S. was Union must pursue "a lessening of ten questions whetber they really share our deliberately excluding the U.S.S.R. from sions" with the U.S. On the other hand , perception about the world. whether they the mediation Ul order to deprive it of the humiliation of having seen their coun try accept Kennedy's ultimatum over believe in domination or coexistence:' credit and influence. Cuba made Brezhnev and his comrades. Soviet-American relations have been on a downward slide since 1974, when f all the Carter Administration 's particularly those in the military, vow (hat never again would the U.S.S.R . blink military moves, the Kremlin ob Richard N.ixon resigned over Watergate jects most to [he decision last year first. They undertook ao all-out campaign -an event that some Soviets still regard as pan of a sinister plot by American I to deploy intermediate-range nuclear to match the U.S. in intercontinental hard-liners to unseat a President who then weapons Ln Europe to counter Soviet rock nuclear weaponry, so that the next time favored a policy of accommodation with ets aimed at the West. Says Oleg Bykov, a Soviet ruler faced an American Pres the U.S.S.R. Those relations fell off a cliff a top specialist on [he U.S. at Moscow's ident eyeball to eyeball. be would do so when Jimmy Carter became President. Institute of World Economics and Inter as an equal. By the late 1970s Moscow Looking back over the past 3~ years, So national Relations: "That decision epit had achieved that goal. For the first viets launch into a long, angry, but ob omizes the fact that negative forces have time in [he long and uneasy relationship viously one-sided litany of grievances: the got the upper band in the U.S. Those betwee.n the two nations, there is an ap President's letter to dissident Physicist weapons are targeted on our territory." proximate balance of strategic might. Andrei Sakharov barely three weeks into sometimes called "parity" or "essential The Soviets accuse the U.S. of insen Carter's presidency; Carter's ill-fated sitivity to their legitimate security iJller equivalence... -and ill-considered-opening move in ests. and they claim t.hat those interests At first blush, it might seem par SALT, wIDch would have required drastic adox.ical that [he V.S .S.R. 's catching up are endangered by the new mood of mil

VVhat Ever Happened

etente?

TIME, JUNE 23, t980

)

or at least i1~h\bits. naked aggression and the exploitation of regional instabi.1ity. At their summit meeting in Moscow in 1972. Nixon and Brezhnev actualJy tried to for mulate such a code. but it was hopelessly vague and rhus catered to [he Soviets' love of lofty-sounding principles and giant loopholes. The key phrase in the twelvepoint declaration of principles they signed: "Both sides recognize that efforts [by onelLO obtain unilateral advantage at the expense of the other. directly or indi rectly, are inconsistent with" detente. So viet behavior since then has made a mock ery of that pledge. Raw military power is the principal foreign policy resource of the U.S.S.R.. hence its reliance on strong-arm tactics in seeking to influence other countries. While the U.S. has dispatched aid mis siems. Peace Corps volunteers and cultur al exhibits, Moscow has mostly sent mil-

rccelll visir to the U.S.S.R. deeply discour aged: ''There is a sense in Moscow that we may have passed through a watershed and may be entering a long period of tensions. The Soviets recognize that what is now happening between us is of hislOric pro porrions. They believe that detente is dead for the foreseeable future. They know that by invading Afghanistan, they buried detente. But in their view it had already been fatally poisoned by the U.S. They re fuse to come to terms with their own re sponsibility for the disintegration of U.s. Soviet relations." Nonetheless, there may still be hope for halting that disintegration and restor iug some version ofdetente. The main rea son is [hat it is overwhelmingly in the ill here has never been anything more lerests of borh sides to do so. BOlh need ofTensive than a Russian on the de fensive. The Soviet quest for abso peace to survive. Moreover. neither the lute security has. with good reason, gener U.S., with its recession, its dangerous in ated insecurity on the part of other fiat ion and its need to improve its convenLO CHO N- GA M" , , _,.,so , tional force·s. nor rhe Soviet nations. Will the U.S.S.R. be Union. with its economic stag less paranoid and less predato ry now that it has attained the nation and mOllnting consum status of superpower? Recent er demands, can easily afford history is not encouraging. The another round of the strategic more powerful the Soviets have arms race. one that would be become in the past two dec unfettered by even the modest ades, the more they have used constraints of SALT. Says Bykov: "In a world their power to aid and a bet the forces of violence, instability where there are many shifts and realignments. there has and radicalism around the got to be more political re world. They have been the bad news bears. straint on the pan of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union." Tn the Middle East. they Such rhetoric would be more are backing terrorists and re reassuring if the U .S.S.R. were jectionists among the Arabs. not waging a brutal war against In Africa, Moscow has often the Afghan people, pouring worked against negotiated set weapons into the Yemens, and tlements, urging guerrillas to supporting Viet Nam's take fight rather than talk---and over of Indochina. No wonder particularly to fight any re there is a resurgence of feeling gimes that had U.S. backing. in the U.S. [hat the·Soviets can Whenever possible. the Soviet not be trusted . No wonder pro U nion has tried to convert detente liberals like Muskie are sponsorship of a "national less certain than before that the liberation movement" or a Soviet t roops and equipment at airfield on the outskirts of Kabu l "people's revolution" into sub Deep split over what The Kremlin dismisses as a "peripheral issue. ,. Kremun is genuinely commit ted to peaceful coexist.ence. jugation of a country. Afghan istan is only the most recent example. itary advisers. Un like the U.S.. the The onus of showing more resrraint is Soviet exertions of power abroad have U.S.S.R . has made little effort to assist squarely on the· Soviet Union these days. Until the Soviets modify their behav a seemingly irresistible, irreversible qual Third World countries in economic ior. especially in the Third World. i[ will development. ity that makes them much more threaten be virtualJy impossible to resurrect ing to world peace than American adven detente. In the meantime. one task for tures. In justifying tbe occupation of Pokesmen for official Soviet think America is to correct any dangerous gaps Afghanistan, Soviet spokesmen argue that ing are at once disillusioned, dis the U.S. has been deploying its troops. es trustful and implacably sci f- that have developed in the Soviet American m.ilitary relationship. Another tablishing bases and throwing its weight righteous about who is to blame for the de around for decades: the U.S.S.R . should be cline of detente and who, therefore, must task is to face the Soviets with political firmness and sophistication. That means entitled to pursue its interests and protect make the first move in a joiIll salvage op its security in similar ways. erat.ion. "It will take years to undo the eventually resuming carrot-and-stick di "You still assign to yourself a global I damage done in the past few months," plomacy-with an effective stick, to be role and to us a very limited, regional warns a member of the U.S.A. Institute. sure, but also with the re·s toration of those Moscow officials say pri vateiy thar the Po sphere of influence," says a foreign min carrots that the Soviets complain have istry official in Moscow. "Well. you'll have litburo's decision to invade Afghanistan been thrown away. Only thus can tbe su [0 get over that notion. It's outdated and was made much easier by three years of perpowers reverse the vicious cycle of unjust. We too are now a global power, " hostile" Carter policies. "We had little to retribution and recrimination that is driv and we have the tight to compete with you lose," says an expert on foreign affairs in illg them toward more and worse con on a global scale. That is only fair if we are Moscow. "Your Government had long frontations. The suspense 18 years ago truly your equals." since thrown away aU irs carrots and was who would blink first. The chal That claim ought to be rejected until reached for every stick in sight." lenge now is for the superpowers to find and unless the Soviet Union shows some Robert Legvold, the senior Kremlin some way of bliJ1king simultaneously so sign of agreeing with the U.S. on a joint ologist for tbe Council on Foreign Rela that they can start looking at where to code of superpower conduct that forbids. tions in New York City. returned from a go from here. - Strobe Tillbott \\; th the U.S. as a superpower should pro ioundly upset the relationship. After aIL strategic equality would seem to be {he most logical and equitable basis for peace ful coexistence. Certainly that is what rhe Soviets say. "The problem with you Americans." asserts an official of Mos cow's Institute for the Study of the U.S.A. and Canada, "is that you can't bring your self to live with us now that we've finally corrected the imbalance. All this talk about 'the Soviet threat' ill your counlry is nothing more than disguised nostalgia for what you regard as the good old days when YOll had a monopoly or at least su periority in power."

TIME. J tJNE 23. 1980

Grigorl Romanov

Andrei Kirilenko

Nikolai Tikhonov

After Brezhnev: Stormy Weather A new generation 0/pragmatists faces tough decisions t is 63 years since the revolution, and the political leadership of the Soviet Union has still not devel oped a tradition or institution to assure a smooth transfer ofauthority. The U.S.S.R. is a nation where supreme power chang es hands only through death or coup. Vla dimir Lenin's demise was hastened by an assassin's bullet. There is a lingering, but unproven, suspicion that Joseph Stalin was murdered. Georgi Malenkov and Ni leita Khrushchev were ignominiously ousted from office. What fate is in store for the collective leadership now ruling the U.S.S.R.? Sovietologists agree that the oldsters clustered around 'Presiden t Leo nid Brezhnev in the Kremlin will merely succumb to the inexorable logic of the ac tuarial tables. In the 16 years of Brezh nev's rule the average age of the PoHl buro has crept forward until it stands this year at 70, thus making the U .S.S.R. one of the oldest gerontocracies in the world. It is also, of course, one of the most ex perienced. At a time when Jimmy Carter was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval, Academy (1943-46), virtually every man in the 14-man Politburo was a member of the power elite. Brezh.nev was a major general. Andrei Gromyko was Ambassa dor to the U.S. Today, however, none of these lOUgh, hard-working old leaders is exceptionally robust. Brezhnev, at 73, suf fers from several illnesses, including ar teriosclerosis. Alexei Kosygin, 76, has had two heart attacks. Dmitri Ustinov, 71, is currently ailing. "When Brezhnev dies the rest of the Politburo will be gone with the wind," says one Soviet bureaucra.t. Though the present rulers will surely not be swept away quite that precipitous ly, Kremlinologists believe that in the five years following Brezhnev's death, most of the top leadership will be replaced. Ev ery effort will be made to give the im pression of an orderly succession. An in terim leadership group composed of some of Brezhnev's surviving associates will TIME, JUNE 23 , 1980

presumably come to the fore. The imme diate successor in Brezhnev's key post as General Secretary of the Communist Par ty is expected to be Andrei Kirilenko. who is three months older than Brezhnev, but in beller health. Another contender for the job of party chief is Konstantin Cher nenko. 68; like Kirilenko. he is a long time Brezhnev supporter. But Chernen ko's present low ranking (seventh in the Politburo hierarchy) and his lack of ex ecutive experience may rule him out for the top post in an interim government. The most obvious candidate to replace Premier Kosygin is First Deputy Premier Nikolai Tikhonov, 75. who has already as sumed many of his boss's functions . hree Politburo members are ex cluded as contenders for supreme power because they are not ethnic Russians-an unacknowledged but key qualification for the job of party boss. They are: Vladimir Shcherbitsky, 62. Din mukhamed Kunayev, 68. and Arvid Pelshe, 81 . Others. like Defense Minister Ustinov and Foreign Minister Gromyko. 70, and Party Ideologist Mikhail Suslov, 77, would appear to be disqualified be cause of their narrow specializations. The youngest member of the Politburo, Le.n ingrad Party Boss Grigori Romanov. 57, may be a contender for power in a few years. For the time being, however, he has no political base in Moscow; citizens of the Soviet capital jokingly observe that even his surname, the s<'\me as the Rus sian imperial family's, works against him. The next government will almost cer tainly pursue the conservative policies of tbe Brezhnev era. The leaders, though. will probably make overtures to China in an attempt to repair the 18-year-old Sino Soviet breach. Meanwhile, thousands of middle-level officials who are now in their 4{)s and 50s will be jockeying for power be hind the scenes. By the late 1980s, if not before, they will have completed the sec

Konstantin Chemenko

ond stage of the inevitable transfer of au thority to a new generation, Officials now holding 5,000 to 6,000 top jobs will be re placed. These wiJl include not only mem bers of the Politburo, but also Secretaries, the Secretariat of the Central. Committee, ministers and deputy ministers, heads of provincial party organizations, leaders of the republics and chiefs of departments. Not a great deal is known about these bureaucrats whose background, psycholo gy a.nd views are crucial to the world's fu ture . But some Sovietologists-notably 'Political Scientist Jerry Hough of Duke -have prepa.red profiles of the upcoming elite on the basis of education and other significant data. These show that the new leaders will be better schooled than the old rulers, some of whom, like Kirilenko, had no real college education. Others, like Brezhnev, attended the vocational col leges that were characteristic of the 1920s and 1930s. Since the younger men began their careers around the time of Stalin's death in 1953, they are likely to be less fearful and more self-assertive than their predecessors, whose lives were under con stant threat from the paranoid dictator. Nearly all the newcomers will have had more exposure to the West. Some experts doubt that these new leaders will be any more favorably dis posed to democratic reforms than their predecessors. In fact, as Soviet planners face tough priority decisions about spend ing on military vs. consumer goods in the economic hard times of the mid-'80s, the leaders may be forced to demand greater discipline and more sacrifices from the population. Such policies will present haz ards for any new regime. Soviet elite - members of the party, favored intelli gentsia, and so on---could become politi cally disenchanted with any government that severely restricts their perks. Stiff la bor discipline, cutbacks on wage increas es and higher prices for consumer staples could lead to popular uDrest-lls they have in Poland and other East bloc sat ellites. In sum , the most probable fore cast for the Soviet Union's next gener ation of leaders is stormy weather ahead. • 33

Big Brother Is Everywhere The KGB is watching, watching, watching every minute ountless espionage thrillers and spy movies have celebrated its ex ploits to Soviet citizens. Officers of the organization are regularly awarded the country's highest decorations, and their chief, Yuri Alldropov, 66, is a mem ber of the ruling Politburo. Andropov himself has said that a typical member of his agency is "a man of pure honesty and enormous personal courage, impla cable in the struggle against enemies, stern in the name of duty, humane and prepared to sacrifice himself for the peo ple's cause." The object of this official adulation is the Committee for State Se curity- acronym: KGB. Most Soviet citizens do not share An dropov's high regard for the KGB. They view it with deep distaste and fear , in part because memories are still vivid of the murderous role played by the secret po lice in Staljn's dreadful purges. Although his successors halted mass terror and greatly reduced the KGB'S autonomy, the agency continues to keep stern watch over every aspect of Soviet citizens'lives. The KGB is the latest acronym for an organization that was founded in 1917 as the Cheka and was successively known as GPU, OGPU, NKVD and MGB. A fief within the Soviet state, the KGB is an in telligence agency, counterintelligence organization and internal security police with its own uniformed military branch. Administratively it is divided into var ious "directorates" whose number and function are frequently scrambled, part ly to confuse rival foreign intelligence services. The KGB's First Chief Directorate is in charge of the world 's largest foreign espionage operation. Says one West Ger man analyst: "U's safe to assume that there's not a place in the world where the KGB does not have its man." The KGB's top external priority is gathering Western military technology se crets in order to avoid costly parallel re search and development at home. A seC ondary but nonetheless vital concern is the collecting of political intelligence and the manipulation and recruitment of for eigners who might influence-their govern ments' policies. Though the CIA, accord ing to U.S. intelligence specialists, is far superior to the KGB in "cornint" and "el int" (communications and electronic in telligence), the Soviets excel in "humint" (intelligence gathering through human contact). This was spectacularly demon stra.ted in Bonn last year, when West Ger man counterintelligence finally caught up with a KGB agent functioning as a madam. For three years the operative had run a. brothel catering to politicians and diplo mats from whom she obtained political and military secrets. T1ME, JUNE23,1980

For every KGB spy abroad there are five working within the Soviet Union . The Second and Fifth Chief Directorates employ an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 agents who are responsible for domestic security, including operatives assigned to the surveillance of dissidents, foreign stu dents, journalists and diplomats in the U.S.S.R. American security officers who searched the residence of one U.S. di p lomat in Moscow in 1978 found 42 microphones. Western intelligence experts estimate the KGB's present strength at 500,000. Of these, 90,000 are believed to be directly in volved in intelligence and counterintelli gence work. An estimated 300,000 are uniformed troops responsible for tbe safe ty of the country's leaders and the pro tection of its borders_ The other KGB employees perform administrative duties and help run prisons, concentration camps and those psychiatric institutions

from his job for telling political jokes that an informer has repeated to the head of the personnel department, who is invariably working for the KGB. At home, an apartment dweller knows that his superintendent regularly reports on any unfamiliar visitors he may receive -especiaUy overnight. Pressures on or dinary citizens to turn informer are great. Black marketeers and others arrested for petty crimes are offered freedom from prosecution in exchange for cooperation. Plainclothes KGB operative-s take pains to blend in a crowd, but can often be spotted. One giveaway: good shoes on somebody who is otherwise sha bbily dressed. Backing up the stukachi network is a gigantic mail and telephone surveillance operation. A Soviet dissident now in ex ile once ran a test of the KGB's postal mon itoring system by sending 100 letters to a West European town from various mail boxes in the U.S.S.R . Only six got through. Selective surveillance of mail and telephone calls has been made much easier in recent years by computers that enable the KGD to monitor specific targets. Andropov is the first KOD head since Beria to sit on the Politburo. He is a party man, not an agency professional. His most notable previous post: Soviet Ambassador in Budapest, where he helped put down the 1956 H ungarian Revolution. Among Andropov's most im porta.n t func tions is to keep the KGB under firm party control so that the se cret police can never again wield the power it possessed under Stalin, when it arrested, tortured and kil led thousands of loyal party officials. ne highly publicized KGB respon

in which dissidents are often held . KGH headquarters in Moscow is a grim, gray, seven-story stone building at N o.2 Dzerzhinsky Square; in tsarist times it housed the All-Russian Insurance Co. Behind the headquarters is the most cel ebrated KGD structure, Lubyanka Prison, through which tens of thousands of So viet citizens have passed on their way to concentration camps or execution. These probably included three of Stalin's own secret police chiefs-----Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov and Lavrenti Beria-who were shot following their fall from pow er. The KGB has administrative offices in every major center, and KGB officers occupy key posts in the Soviet armed forc es and the regular police, as well as in factories, government offices, universities and most other major Soviet institutions. The day-to-day work of keeping watch over the Soviet people is done by part-time informers, or stukachi (squeal ers) , as they are contemptuously called. The system of informants is so perva sive that most Soviets take it for grant ed that a stukach is always near by. At work, a factory laborer may be fired

is to rid the country of dis O sibility senters. Of the 2 million people curren tly imprisoned in the Soviet penal system , about 10,000 are so-called pris oners of conscience, who ha ve been jai led for their religious, inteUectua I or polit ical beliefs. In the past year the KGB has employed increasingly sophisticated methods to discredit dissidents; Jewish activists have been charged with spec ulation and other economic crimes in order to whip up local anti-Semitic feelings . In the Ukraine, 36 human rights ac tivists have been convicted since 1976 on charges ranging from hooliganism to sexual offenses. In Kiev, both Jewish and Ukrainian activists have been se verely beaten by KGB agents. In one cel ebraied case last year, witnesses say they saw two men force a popular Ukrainian nationalist composer, Volodymyr Ivasiuk, 31 , into a KGB car. Three weeks later his body was found hanging from a tree: his eyes had been gouged out. Such acts of brutality-still rare but apparently on the increase-are strictly illegal. The KGB. however, remains capable of acting as a law unto itself. _ 35

How to Succeed by Rea'lly Trying Caviar and limousines/or a Communist nobility All animals are equal. but some an imals are more i'qllal than orhers. - George Orwell. Allimal Farm

ike the inmates of Orwell's barn yard, citizens of the Soviet Union enjoy vastly different degrees of power, privilege and material comfort. de spite the country's egaLitarian ideals. So-. viet Communism has theoretically abol ished hereditary classes. but it has neither uprooted the ladder of success nor stifled the urge to scale it. While there are ob stacles to social mobil ity in the Soviet

zens queue up for scarce consumer goods, members of what one Soviet journalist calls the "Communist nobility" shop in special stores for caviar, French cognac, Swiss chocolate.s and Japanese stereo sets. They p<'ltronize tailors, hairdressers and cleaners who serve them exclusively. Lesser privilege.s are enjoyed by thousa nds of midd Ie-level managers. local panycad res and other important citizens. One key to advancement is education. By age J 5, all Soviet students are slotted into distinct scholastic groups: only one of every five applicants wins entry into one

the suggestion of Ivan lvanovich

011

Union, those who make it to the top rely on the same factors that Jead to success in the West: education, bard work, tal ent, connections-even corruption. At the peak of the social hierarchy is an elite . known as the nac/lll/slvO (roughly, the Establishment), which in cludes perhaps a million people. This privileged group consists of a ruling class - thosc wielding power in state. pany and military circles-and an upper class, com prising party-favored intellectuals, artists and top athletes. Whether they enter this exclusive club via lhe committee room, tbe Bolshoi stage or tbe hockey rink, members of the nachalslvo are assured of hidden perks denied to ordinary citizens. Politburo members and other top po litical officials, for example, live in ex clusive apartment enclaves and speed to work in chauffeur-driven ZIL limousines. Although their salaries are relatively modest, they have little need for money: not only are they housed by the govem ment. they also receive a special Krem lin ration that allows them to feed their families well for a nominal monthly fee of 50 to 70 rubles. (An average family of four in Moscow might spend 180 to 200 ru bles a month on food). These political leaders, along with other Soviet elitists, enjoy the use of coun try dachas, yacbts and Black Sea vaca tion resorts. While ordinary Soviet citi 36

tions are slow in coming. since top of ficials tend to remain at their posts into their 70s or 80s. 111 general. the aspiring apparatchik must rely on patience. hard work and diligence, plus a certain Dale Carnegie-like skill for flaLtering and im pressing his bosses. As in most other countries, success in the Soviet Union can depend' on family and personal connections. With the right contacts, one has a lot less trouble get ting into a LOp school. landing a good job and winning advancement. Soviet Pres ident Leonid Brezhnev's elder son Yuri. for example, was named First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade last year at the relatively tender age of 47. Foreign Min ister Andrei Gromyko's son Anatoli, 48, was appointed director of the African In stitute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences

who happens 10 be my IIncle. "

of the country's 63 universities or 800 technical institutes. Compecition is espe cially stiff for the top universities of Mos cow and Leningrad and the Institute of Foreign Relations. To help get their chil dren through che rigorous entrance exams, many parents hil'C private tutors at five rubles ($7.65) an hour. Others bribe admjssions officers. In a case reported by Izvestiya last month, tbe woman in charge of a scienti fic prep school in Tomsk got an eight-year prison semence for selling ad missions. According to Izvestiya , she "ac cepted almost anything as a bribe. from mink coats to pails of berries." The ambitious young Soviet must also be careful to choose the right profession. Engineers, once revered as the guardians of Soviet technological might, now glut the market. Nuclear physics remaills one of the most respected and best-compen sated fields . Journalism is another sought after career; top Soviet reporters can boost their incomes by writing freelance arti cles and often arc able to travel abroad . For those who aspire to political pow er. membership in the Communist Party is a must. BUI the party card alone is nO guarantee of success: few of the party's 16.5 million membel'S ever make it into the e.lile class, just as many privileged cit izens in tile scientific and cultural fields never join, Lhe party. Moreover. party re sponsibilities are demanding and promo-

"Please sil down. We 1/ take care of everythi1lg."

1976. fnfluence peddling-called blaT in Russian-prevails at all levels of So viet society, from the KremJjn down to the local butcher. who can set aside a choice cut of beef for a friend or perhaps his plumber- who willlhen come and fix his Icakiljg pi pes. III

that exists ·. inhe thesocialSovietstratification Union obviously con T flicts with the ideal of equality. which Marx caBed "the groundwork of Communism ." Such an inconsistency was denounced by Yugoslav Dissident Milo van Djilas in bis 1957 classic Tire New Class, and elitism ranks high among the ideological sins for which the Chinese c,o ndemn the Soviets. Soviet theorists in scrutably justify such inequality as a "noo antagonistic contradiction." Others. in cluding some Marxist dissidents, claim that the system has not really created an elite class, since political power and its di rect perquisites cannot be inherited. But there is one flaw in that argument: the case with which the nadlalslvo can ar range good educations aud careers for their offspring tends to perpetuate tbeir privileged status. Despite the Jlistorical gulf that separates them from tbe pre revolutionary regime, the Communisl elit ists enjoy their prerogatives as unabashed ly-and guard them as jealously-as their tsarist predecessors ever did. • TIM E. JU

E 23. 1980

Pitfalls In the Planning

TELLTALES OF TWO CITIES Cost of living

Moscow

Hours worked per week Manufacturing worker's earnings per week Monthly rental 3-rooma

Industry develops, but growth does not

ne joke that Muscovites tell about their economic system involves Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev, who are rid ing a speciallrain. When the engine breaks down. Stalin has the crew shot. Nothil't g happens_ After a while, Khrushchev rehabilitates the engineers. Still no movement. Finally, Brezhnev pulls down the shades and sighs. "Well, let's pretend we are moving." In recent months Soviet leaders have had a hard time pretending they were moving. Afi cr more than half a century of often spectacular progress in building heavy industry, the Soviet economy has slipped into a serious slump. While growth zipped along at 5.3% annually from 1966 to 1970 and was a strong 7.2% as late as 1973, it fell to an almost invisible .7% last year. Steel production, always regarded as a major sign of a healthy Soviet econ omy, declined by 1.6% last year-the first drop since World War n. Instead of delivering on its promise to create a wor kers' paradise with am ple material goods for ali, Marxism-Le ninism as practiced by Moscow has fash ioned something of an inertia-bound bureaucracy that limi ts incentive and sup presses inventiveness. Says Economist Judith Thornton of the University of Washington: " Imagine a whole economy organized and run like the Department of Energy or the Pentagon. Of course, there is a problem . Public organizations work le-ss efficiently than do private ones, which are eliminated if they are not competitive." The law of the land for the Soviet economy is the national Five-Year Plan. The State Planning Committee (GOS PLA.~) allocates all investment capital , sets every price and production goal and determines all foreign trade. The plan. which sets policy for some 350,000 en terpri ses. affects every Soviet citizen. Law ;e. - must try their quota of cases. bar ::.ers must shear so many heads and taxi .\ers must log so many miles. The plan c..ter>nines the amount of raw materials 3. p:.ant ""ill receive and the number of e:s it :5assigned : fulfilIing the plan 's

$33

.. All figures are typical current prices. .. Vacations: the New York figure represents a peak season coat with meals at a major Florida resort city; 70% of the Moscow flg..-e is paid by the w.er's union. TIME C/la,\ by Nlgl l Hoi", ••

TIME. JUN E 23, 1980

quotas is the only economic measuring stick. Soviet economists would argue that it was only by following government dic tates that the country was able. to recover from the devastation of World War II. Following massive investments of both capital and labor. agricultural output has risen by an average of 3°;", annually since 1953. Even though the diet remains starchy and the nation's overburdened and inefficient distribution system pro duces periodic shonages of everything from pork to potatoes, per capita food con sumption has nonetheless more than dou bled since 1951, a feat unmatched by any other advanced nation. Industrial growth has also been heady; the Soviet gross na tional prod uct, a mere 40% of the U.S. 's in 1955, is 60% today. BUi Soviet leaders today are having to stJuggle with new and difficult problems. At the heart of the trouble lies the inabil ity of the system to make better and more efficient use of its plants, factories and technologies. Says Professor Alexander Erlich of Columbia University's Russian Institute: "The Soviet system of overcen tralized planning was clearly helpful in the past, when it was just a matter of mar shaling large amounts of labor and capi tal. But now thaI the situation calls for using what the·y have more efficiemly. the system is simply not workiJ1g well at aIL" I n the five-year growth plans. production targets are as often as not chosen because they look impressive. The Soviets have, i.n eirect, created an economic system that values the production of 100 clunking, breakdown-prone trucks more highly than that of ten smoothly running ones, simply because the plan demands higher unit production and makes no allowance for quality. , nlike the capi talist economies ' of the West. which reward successful risk taking, the So viet system rewards caution and conformity. Any plant manager who might be interested in ex perimenting with new ways of doing things runs the risk of failing to meet his assigned production or deli very quota, as traumatic a worry to a Soviet manager as the fear of red ink is to an American cor porate executive. Observes Haverford College SovielOlogist Holland Hunter: "Everyone finds the traditional way of do ing things- no innovation- the most con genial. The supreme cha llenge is not to rock the boat. New styling or technology would require change, and that would in evitably mean at least some faltering in prOduction ." Examples of Soviet-style conserva tism are widespread . The Soviet chem ical industry was reportedly unable to replace corrosion-prone cast iron pipes wit:h more up-tO-date plastic piping be cause no factory could be persuaded to make the lighter product. Reason: pipe production quotas are set by GOSPLAN in tons, and any factory that switched from cast iron to plastic pipe output TIME. JUNE 23.1980

would immediately fall behind in its pro duction quotas. Though Soviet leaders periodically urge managers and workers to be more ef ficient, little if anything ever seems to come from such pleas. Tn 1965 Premier Alexe.i Kosygin endorsed administrative changes that would have given state firms more authority to in itiate plans on their own , enter into direct contracts with their customers, and retain a larger proportion of their profits for investment purposes. But the reforms were eventually watered down so much that they became mean ingless. Economic refonnsalways run into problems because they ultimately involve forbidden political reforms. Despite an investment of more than

j TARGET

AND REALITY

Soviet GrowthDl'lllned '76-110

~ Adull76-7g;.

eo.l

G-

3.0%1

~0.6% s....

•

3.6%1

j1,2"

eoneumer produce.

I • ~.,.nl

· T

4.6%1

Agriculture

T't.tE Chatt by Jooat Romeu

·'l\CIIlClel

as much as 40% in annual harvest yields. The geographical and climatic problems are compounded by the system's self inflicted wounds of rule by decree. Though collectivization is sometimes com pared wi th the spread of so-called a g ribusiness conglomerates in the U.S.. the differences are enormous because workers have little concern about production re sults on a state farm . Proof: the 2% to 3% of the Soviet Union's farm land that is privately owned produces about 25% of all Soviet agricultural output, primarily vegetables, fruit. milk and meat. Farm efficiency is further crimped by the scarcity of trained manpower. With more aod more young people leaving the farms and heading for factory work in the nation's cities, agricultural output is being left increasingly in the hands of the elderly and the less skilled . Indeed, shortage of labor is a serious problem for all sectors of the Soviet econ omy. Employment in industry is now growing at only .7% annually. as com pared with 1.8% per year in 1976-78. When small problems in agriculture or industry feste·r into large ones. the So viet bureaucracy revs up huge counter attacks that become economic overkill. Whenever Soviet grain harvests exceed expectations, for example, officials scour the count ryside commandeering man power and trucks from projects that they have to temporarily abandon.

pt$I,mlnaty

figu(es

$500 billion. agriculture remains the most troubled sector of the Soviet economy. The nation employs eight times as many farm workers as does the U.S" or about 23% of the entire Soviet work force . The farm sector soaks up about one-quarter of all investment capital, five times more than that spent in the U.S. Yet for all this, actual farm output remains only 80% of the U.S.'s. Says Soviet Economic Expert Gregory Grossman of the University of California at Berkeley: ''The organization is wrong, the prices are wrong, th.e tools are wrong. Basically, everyt hing is wrong:' True. Soviet agriculture is plagued by climatic problems beyond the control of any government. Though the lush fields of the Ukraine produce grain in abun dance, much of the country 's arable land lies in far northern latitudes. where enor mous swings in seasonal temperatures and erratic rainfall can lead to variations of

he result is a continuous and inefficient scramble for i scarce resourc.es, as planners i lurch uncertainly from one high-priority project to the next. One such enterprise is the 2.000 mile-long Baikal-Amur Mainline rail\ a} across Siberia. This has become a n en gineer's nightmare, as any study v. ~ have shown . Huge stretches freeze" ..... in the winter and then beeo. e q;;ag mires during summer. Though the Soviets hunger for West ern technological imports like ;:or;:} -eIS and machinery, they ha ve pro' e~- ma - e Wes' in keting their own products return. The only Soviet exporu ' ; eas ily abroad, in addition to \ materials such as petrole ' a g e Despite attractive prices for Ya'" jlaS..""n m es ger je'ts or Lada cars. \lies:e ;-' have shown li ttle interes ill -quali.y. dowdy Soviet merchan ise TIe So\;ets usually are forced ti. tries f Eastern on the soft-curren_ Europe or (he Third \\ After seeing his standard 0 -living rise steadily since \Y rI War Il and ha \ ing been pro 'sod more 0 come. t:he a 'er age So,iet citizen nov. fa es t' e prospect of d.xlinin,g prosperit , . Says A ram Berg son. direct r of Harvard's Russian Re search Cente . "Over the coming decade, the So\ iets will be lu;;ky if the increase in nsumer goods is half what it has been lately." The central planning thaL helped achieve rapid industrialization has be come the roadblock to further economic development. _ 45

ILiving Conveniently on the Left

shoi Theater. On a side street near the Moscow Planetarium. /ansovshchiki (black marketeers) have set up an un derground supermarket. dealing in ev erything from gin to chewing gum, jeans A thriving network 0/hidden entrepreneurs and Western POP records. One of the hot elizaveta Tyntareva , a lawyer liv- the left. " At its simplest. it is nothing more test selling items in any market is in formation. Some hustlers charge one or ing in Vilnius, Lithuania. a few than passing on to the local butcher tick years ago sold her Zhiguli car for ets for a popular soccer game or concert two rubles for "a sentence." The mys 2,000 rubles (about $3,000). She then used in return for a good cut of meat; tipping terious sentence: a valuable tip-off that that small amount of venture capital to off the plumber about a shipment of shoes an item in short supply will be delivered buy so-called deficit goods. consumer af- that is due to arrive in a shop as payment to a certain shop the following day.

tides like sunglasses and wigs that are al- for fixing a leaking pipe; or holding down

Whole industries have sprung up to most always in short supply and high de- a second job as a furniture mover or apart service the markets on the left. Printers il mand in Soviet shops. As she bought, ment painter. .Na levo can and does. licitly run off copies of scarce books. while Tyntareva also sold . Gradually she built however, also extend to smuggling con entire hidden factories make jeans and up a stock of everything from gold rings. sumer goods in from the West , running a cosmetics. Truck Drivers Nikolai Butko watches, wigs and jeans to velvet suits. hidden factory, stealing state-owned and Alexander Konovalov developed a umbrellas and cameras. The business materials and skipping out from work very elaborate triangular trade from the Caucasus Mountain city of Krasnodar near the Black Sea. They picked up pur loined steel from a state factory, delivered - - llYTb - YYTb Be""Kv Balbi, HO 3dTO )O{e it to government farms in exchange for off-market tOmatoes, grapes and peas, and ¢~PMdl then sold the produce in Siberia, where fresh vegetables were in short supply. 'The amount of bribery of public of ficials is enormous," notes Berkeley Econ omist Gregory Grossman, an expert on the illegal Soviet economy. " It is an ex tremely corrupt society where graft and bribery of officials is enormously wide spread and where stealing on the job is commonplace and far more sophisticated than crude break-ins or thefts at state warehouses." One of the biggest frauds of the 1970s was the caviar ca·per. in which officials of the Soviet Ministry of Fisher ies shipped expensive black caviar abroad in large cans marked "smoked herring." Western firms coopera ting in the fraud re packed and resold the caviar. They put the Soviet conspirators' share of the profits into Swiss bank accounts. The swindle is still officially denied by the Kremlin, but P>jCYKOI< the Fishing Minister abruptly resigned af C. HACblPOBOA ter some of the " herring" was mistakenly sent to domestic shops. "A trifle large, but still a bmnd name!" Though Soviet officials are aware of the booming second economy. the'y gener prospered; she acquired a regular clientele on a state job to moonlight privately. ally ignore the dealings of Ivan the Terri ble Capitalist. Major violators are some The economy on the left exists at ev among Baltic Sea vacationers, hired four ti mes arrested. and officers of the MVO'S assistants, and even set, up a mail-order ery level of Soviet society. For city dwell service. Unfortunately. tbough, Tymare ers the private economy provides plumb Administration for Combatting the Em va was an economic cri.minal under tough ers. clothes and even legal services bezzlement of Socialist Property and Soviet "speculation" laws. Early this year through the homemade advertisements Speculation have infiltrated the black she was arrested and sentenced to twelve that cover billboards. Farmers go under markets. But the Kremlin grudgingly ac years in prison. The penalty could have ground to get tools or fertilizers that are cepts the underground economy because been death. unavailable in the regular economy. it fills the gaps left. in the inefficient Soviet system eases shortages and makes con Tyntareva and her customers were Economist Gur Ofer, an a.ssociate profes part of the Soviet Union's thriving Under sor at the Hebrew University of Jerusa sumers' lives bearable. Collective-farm ground economy. This involves more than lem. calculates that up to 12% of the av managers admi t that often the only way to just the familiar black marketeers. dealing erage citizen's income derives from the meet their production targets is to buy in Levi's and ballpoint pens, icons and private economy and that 18% of all con supplies on the black market. "If they caviar, who greet Western visitors around sumer expenditures are made there. tried to shut down every illegal activity," the main tourist hotels. It is, in fact, a sec Despite their illegality, private mar says one Western diplomat in Moscow, ond economy, parallel to the official state kets are readily visible in Moscow and "t.he economy would come close to col controlled one. In a thriving permanent other Soviet cities. The gathering place lapsing and the party would face serious network, illegal and quasi-legal entrepre for Moscow apartment hunters is the sub problems of public disorder." The under neurs, speculators and thieves sell hard way SLOP on Leningradsky Prospekt. The ground economy is nowhere to be found in to-get goods and services to workers, peas place to buy women's goods, such as lip the theories of Marx or Lenin. but it has ants and even state officials. stick, lingerie and dresses, is inside the become an integral pan of So~iet society The Soviets call it living na levo-"on public toilet two blocks from the Bol today. •

TIME. JUNE 23. 1980

The Making of a Minsk Tractor Red banners and "thirteenth pay" bonuses stimulate workers Soviet propaganda both sentimental izes and·glorifies il/dustrial workers as the backbone o/the revolulion. Like the leg endary miner Alexei Stakhanov. who dug an unprecedented 102 lOllS 0/ coal in olle six-hour shift. workers are constal/tly praised lor scaling greater heights 0/ ;n dustriul prodllctivity, led on by the guid ing spirit 0/ Communist Pany leadership. AI an internarional nOllgovernmental tribunal held laST year in Washington. D. C . TO inquire inlo the status 0/ human rights ill th.e U.S.S.R. and East bloc coun tries. Soviet emigrants painled a different picture. They described a sullen labor force griping abouT low wages. unsallitary or hazardous working conditions and trade unioll leadership that execufes manage mellt 's dictates rather than representillg employees. Drunkenness on The job and ab senreeism were said 10 be chronic problems that often resulted in shoddy goods. Al though workers were assigned quotas. ,here was little incel/five to exceed rhem because once someolle overproduced. everyone else was driven to work at the new level. The reality is surely somewhere be tween these fwo extremes. TIME Reporter Researcher John Kohan visired rhe Minsk Tractor factory. olle 0/ the largesT manu /acturers 0/ farmillg equipment in rhe So viet Uniol/. liis report on The vaST indus Trial complex that spreads our over almost 250 acres and employs 25,000 people: he tractors clank down the 200 yd.-long assembly line like gigantic metal insects: 7,500 tractors a month, 90,000 a year, all bearing the trademark Belarus MTZ. Brigades of young laborers clad in work clothes or jeans swarm over each monster, slipping front axles and gear boxes into place, bolt ing on metal casings, attaching three or four giant wheels. Finally. after 53 stages of manufac ture, the machines lumber off the assem bly line; the bright blue ones are destined for the vast farm lands of the Soviet Union, the brilliant red ones for more than 70 nations around the globe. About 3,000 of them have even found their way LO tbe U.S. The overriding preoccupation in any Soviet factory is fulfilling the five-year plan that has been agreed to in advance by an individual factory and the govern ment. Says Serafim Dedkov, deputy di rector of the Minsk plant: "We have a five-year plan, a yearly plan and a month ly plan. If we have set the goal of 90.000 tractors in a year. that works out to rough ly 330 a day. We have to work rhyth mically, turning out the prescribed num ber every day. If we only make 100 today, we simply can't make 560 tomorrow." Red and white banners hanging from the walls and rafters exhort the workers to strive for higher productivity. PRETIME. JUNE 23. 1980

CISE RHYTIiM , HIGH TEMPO, EXCELLENT QUAUTY, says ooe. The portraits of out

standing workers, only slightly smaller than the pictures of morose Politburo memberstbat adorn buildings before na tional holidays, line the factory's cen:tral avenue. The plant runs on two shifts from 7:40 in the morning until midnight, but the assembly line workers, whose av erage age is about 30, seem relaxed. At times they even stand around joking. De spite the ever constant exhortations to increase productivity, the Soviets have an easygoing attitude. Minsk employees, for example, are not required to dress

many years. "The goals of managemem and the pro/soyuz are the same here." says Kazimir Kaspirovich, deputy chairman of the professional union at the factory . "We have no major disagreements with management. " Almost every aspect of a Minsk em ployee's life is centered around his fac tory. The tractor plant provides schools for workers and their children, summer camps for kids and vacation cabins for adults. The factory-built " palace of cul ture" boasts 65 amateur theatrical groups, choirs and dance companies, and there is also a giant sports stadium. Such extensive services and facilities are maintained at the cost of a smaller paycheck for the Soviet worker than for his American counterpart. The average wage for a 41- hour week at the Minsk plant is 205 rubles ($308) a month. But a

Young woman tending the assembly line at the huge fann machinery factory

A five-year plan. a yearly plan, a monthly plan-alld no trouble with the union. in work uniforms on the shop floor. The plant has what Dedkov calls "a fund for economic stimulation." The fund rewards brigades of productive workers with bonuses called the "thirteenth pay" at year's end . Inducements to greater out put are also built into the wage system. Most employees of the Minsk factory are paid a piecework rate for each item they produce. The amount is determined by the quality of the work, the number of pieces turned out and whether that ex ceeds production norms. Dedkov claims that managers are very careful before they raise goals so that a worker does not end up receiving less pay for better work. Should a worker feel he is not being properly compensated, he can complain to an official of his union called a prof soyuz. Unions are almost like state agen cies; indeed the former chief of the KGB. Alexander Sheiepin was the official head of the U.S.S.R . trade union movement for

full-course lunch in the factory ca e leria costs only 50 or 60 kopecks 175c ( 0 9O~ 1. and rent for a factory-su bsidized room apartment, including hea:. e e~ tric ity, water and telephone. is a s...-an L to 15 rubles ($18 to $23) a month. ~ ed i cal care is free , and outstanding "" rkers are eligible for factory-sponsored trips to Black Sea and Baltic resons. hus tbe mcen iVe to keep produc tion at high levels is strong. even away from the shop floor. and Ded kov insists that at the Minsk factory there are no discussions about whether workers can fulfill the plan. The talk is only about ways to overlhlfill it. "If we work welL we can build more rest cen ters, pioneer camps and preventive med ical centers," he says. "If we don't, we must cut back. Everyone from the fac tory director on down works with this in mind! _

~' SPQrt, '~ -

Ins'i de the Big Red Machine An athletic program/or everyone Yields Olympic gold n a Leningrad gym, a class of ten year-old schoolgirls begins one of its twice-weekly sessions by exe cuting handstands on the parallel bars, In Moscow's Central Army Sports Club, teams of soldiers exchange their combat boots for skates; a hockey puck is soon cracking like gunfire against the wooden boards. Near by, in Luzhniki Park , a group of middle-aged citizens sets out on a supervised 10-km walk, picking berries along the lA(ay. A few vignettes from everyday sport-

The Soviet sports program, supervised by the Physical Culture and Sports Com mittee of the U.S.S,R. Council of Minis ters, is organjzed down to the level of nur sery school and factory, At. the top are 39 "voluntary sports societies" run by region al labor uoions. Each has its own teams, facilities, and badges; Spartak, for exam ple. has 4 million members, mostly wrute collar workers, each of whom pays 30 kopecks (45¢) annual dues. Then come the nearly 1.5 million sports clubs, ranging from the tiny Kolos

Young athletes on parade at the National Children's Sports Games In the Crimea

Grenade throwing. stipends from th e state and a crash program for handball. ing life in the Soviet Union, where fitness is virtually a state reljgion and millions of citizens take part in an elaborate system of athletic instruction and awards, De signed for the masses, the Soviet sports machine has nonetheless produced an athletic elite of a.wesOme proportions, with all the international political benefits that implies. Just as do many other coun tries, .tlle U,S.S.R. views sport as a useful political weapon, Since participating in its first modem Olympiad in 1952 in Helsin ki, the Soviet Union has won 685 medals in the Summer Games- more than any other nation during those years (the U.S., in second place, has collected 603). The Kremlin considered this year's Games in Moscow-the first ever held in a Commu nist nation-not only as another quadren nial chance to demonstrate Soviet athlet ic prowess, but also as the best possi ble way to show off its society to the rest of the world.

of the Kalinin collective farm near Pinsk in Belorussia to the nationwide Central Army Club, which draws its members from the armed services. According to of ficial figures, enrollment in the societies and the sports clubs totals 57 million -one-fifth of the nation's population. To encourage mass participation, Moscow pushes a set of nationwide phys ical tests for citizens aged ten to 60 called G .T ,O. (Gotov k Trudu j Oborone, or Pre pared for Work and Defense). To earn a gold badge in the Strength and Courage (ages 16 to 18) category, for instance a cit izen must be able to do twelve chin-ups and toss a grenade 40 meters, among oth er feats . In 1976, the last year for which figures are available, 20.5 million Soviets of all ages won silver and gold badges. Starting at age seven ., school children must take part in two 45-rninute physical education classes weekiy. By age ten or eleven, those who show promise attend

one of 5,000 "jun ior spans schools" oper ated after regular classroom hours. One result of this ea,rly introduction to sport and fitness is the development of an en thusiasm for ath letics that encompasses the whole society, The most skilled young Soviet athletes graduate to one of the country's 600 Olym pic reserve schools, located in the larger cit ies, The schools offer complete academ ic programs as well as athletic training, and their yearly graduating classes form the pool from which members are select ed for national and individual republic squads in such sports as basketball and volleyball. Top athletes may also be draft ed by the army specifically to play on the service's various teams, hrough this gleaning process the Soviet Union eventually selects its Olympic athletes, The best in team spons are selected through regional and national championships, while the tinest in individual sports are determined in the qua.d rennial Spartakiad , a sort ofdress-re hearsal Olympics held in Moscow the summer before the Games. In 1979, 90 million Soviet athletes tried out in local and regional contests. and 10,000 eventu ally took part in Spanakiad. The best Soviet athletes win more than just medals, An Olympic-caliber competitor is a kind of professional ama teur, with a saJary paid by the state and a standard of living roughly equivalent to that of a successful factory manager. Vla dimir Yashchenko, 21. a world-class high jumper busily training for the Olympics, recei ves a stipend of $400 from the gov ernment. Irina Rodnina, 30, and Alexan der Zaitsev, 28, the 1980 winter Olympic champion figure-skating pair. live in a two-bedroom apartment in downtown Moscow. a privilege seldom granted to a couple so young. Once their playing days are over, many OlYl11pic athletes can look forward to careers as coaches and sport administra tors. Soviet authorities deny that their ath letes use steroids. chemicals that promote muscle development but are outlawed in international competition. A few athletes ha ve defected to the West with tales of widespread steroid use, but such charges are difficult to prove, Still the Soviet ath letic establishment is under intense pres sure to succeed, and athletes are some times asked to take up unpopular sports. Several years ago, the Spons Committee decided that Olympic gold could be mined from handball- a sport not seriously pur sued in the Soviet Union, Word went out to the local sports schools to set up crash training programs for gandbolisty. "We are proud of such 'interference,''' said Sergei Pavlov, Minister of Sports. At the nrst Olympiad after that decision. in Mon treal in 1976, Soviet players entered both the men's and women's handball matches and walked away with gold medals. _ TIME. JUNE 23.1980

Popov dispenses laughter cure The audience watching the new show. A Cure by Laughter. at the Old Moscow Circus al ready suspects what "doctor" from outer space is goillg to pop out of that tiny spaceship landing in the single ring, and cheir delight is tangible. Sure enough. what emerges is no as tronaut , considering the over size checkered cap perched on unruly shocks of blond hair, black velvet jacket, red scarf,

ments. is "decaying all over the world and has been ne glected by many Jews in this country." A graduate of three famed institutes- the Bolshoi Ballet School. the Moscow Conservatory Musical School and the Moscow School of The atrical Arts-Shcrljng is direc tor-founder of the two-year old Jewish Chamber Musical Theater. He has written the music. choreographed the dancing and starred in two hits with his company of 25. One show was an 01 io ofjazzed up Jewish folk songs and danc es. The other. a folk-rock mu sical called A Blllek Bridle for a White Mare. got its title from an old Yiddish proverb: "Pov eny suits a Jew Iikc a black bri dle on a white m.arc." Sher ling has other works in preparation but. he says. find ing space and suppon is be coming difficult. "It 's as if the a uthorities had let a genie out of the bOllle and don 't know what to do about rum now. push him backinorwhal."

Channing Nelli Kim digs into watennelon between training sessions gre.....· up with German troops and hunger and death .' They told me to write it all down." The result: A4y AdulT Child hood. a mosaic of young life under Nan occupation that has brought such a flood oflel lers it may end up as- what else?- a movie.

•

Jewish Chamber Musical Theater Head Sherling makes up cast member clodhopper shoes and, of course, trademark potato nose. After 30 years with the circus, Oleg Popov, 49, is regarded as the king ofclowns even beyond Soviet borders. How long did it lake to dream up the med ical mayhem in his latest laf fer? Says Popov: "Six months. plus my entire life."

•

For a Jew. his is an un derstanda ble crusade: for a Muscovite, it is an uncomfor t able one. But Dancer Yutl Sher ling, 35. seeks a renaissance of Yiddish culture, which, he la TIME, JUNE 23, 1980

She sings. She dances. She plays the piano, plunks the gui tar. pumps the accordion. She recently won raves for two movies, Siheriada and Five Evenings. Now Actress Lyudmi la Gurchenko, 44. is an author acclaimed for her autobiogra phy. published in a literary monthly. about growing up in war-lOrn Kharkov. The muse moved her while sbe and film friends watched Peter .Bogda novich's Paper Moon . 'They kept saying how marvelous the Tatum O'Neal character was. So I said. ·Listen. guys. I was the same type of child . only I

Since she is now the coun try's leading gymnast. the Sovi et press has naturally begun to refer to Nelli K im as "Charm ing Nelli," Wben she pauses to chomp watermelon in the midst of an otherwise rigid training regimen. she fits that title, bul Nelli and her coaches agree that she can often be much less than charming. The on ly thing that justifies her moods are the results. In Mon treal four years ago. Kim not o nly won two individual gold medals but scored two all-but unprecedented perfect tens - one in the floor exercise pro gram and one in her specialty. the vault. In Fon Worth last December she took the all round women's title. Kim. now training near her home in Minsk, is the odds-on favorite for further honors in the 1980 Olympics. But she is not so sure. Kim will be 23 in July. an aging gymnastic veteran. She also has domestic distractions: foremost among them, Hus band and Fellow Gymnast Vla dimir Achasov. Says K im : "1 hale to lose, but it's getting more difficult to win ."'

Sounds rather like a Sovi et football team: the Moscow Virtuosos. But what an all-star lineup. Tbese Virtuozy AfoskllY are 25 top musicians. organized into a chamber orchestra 18 months ago by Violinist Vladi mir Spivakov, 35. World-re nowned virtuoso hffilself. Spi vakov alternates between bow and baton to direct his skillful charges with intensity and impishness: "Let's not be bull dozers." he will grin as the tempo speeds up during re hearsal of a Vivaldi passage. The virlllozy were the hit of Moscow's Russian Winter Fes tival and will play for Olym pic audiences this summer. Spivakov would like to bring them to the U.S .. but for him Jinlmy Carter's cultural em bargo hits a sour note.

Spivakovat Virtuozyrehearsal

perhaps the most promising route toward harnessing nuclear fusion as a future en ergy source. Soviet scientists are pre eminent. too. in applied areas like ocean ography. polar research, climatology and To drive the system, an offensive in physics and technology meteorology. and seismology. But even tific record is much easier to evaluat.e. here they show some blind spots; though " Olle cannot be satisfied wilh the col /apse 0/ capitalism . Jr is I/ecessary to take Moscow may well be the world's capital of Soviet investigators made early break all ils science, technology . . . Without that theoretical mathematics. in part because throughs in earthquake prediction. the the Soviets lack the computers that enable geological establishment was slow to ac I we will nol be able to build Communism . " Westerners to solve complex problems by cept plate tectonics- a kind of unified ince Lenin uttered those clangor brute force "number crunching. " Says field theory for the earth sciences that ex ous words in 1919. the Soviets may Yale Physicist O. Allan Bromley: "We've plains everything from mountain building ha ve muted their tone. But they become lazy because of our digital corn to volcanic eruptions. continue to view the mastery of science. puters. The Soviets don 't have easy access As their interest in Western technol along with its offshoot- technology- as lO good computers: they do a lot more an ogy shows. the Soviets still have a way to essential 10 the triumph of their sysiem. alytic mathematics in their heads." The go. Almost all advanced instrumentation Indeed . in areas deemed cr itical by the Soviets are also stroog in other "black in their labs is imported . When the Sovi Kremlin, notably defense. _ _. . _ - _ -...,.,....,..,.,......'.' ." ,"O M 50"'0-0 ets do try their hand at instru space and agriculture, Soviet ment building. they some scientists are lavishly sup times fail embarrassingly : ported in their research. They their gia nt six-meter (236 in. ) can buy the best lab equip telescope in the northern Caucasus. after years of ef ment from abroad. are al lowed to travel to the West fort . remains flawed by a de for scientific meetings and fective mirror. Says M.I .T. are trea ted to personal priv Physicist Herman Feshbach: ileges-housing , clothing . "They have never been able cars-beyond the reac h of or LO exploit machines." Nor are dinary citizens. they anywhere near the West in the a bility to produce phar Partly in response to such encouragement. Soviet re maceuticals. pla.stics and searchers have made enor other chemicals or to pursue the hottest of contemporary mous strides in narrowing the sciences. molecular biology. scientific gap with the West; in some cases. like the phys ow can these short ics of fusion, certain aspec ts comings be accounted of metallurgy. jlnd mathe matics, they mllY be ahead of for? Part of the prob lem. as in so many other in the U .S. In the near future, Slances, lies with the system. the Soviets are likely to ad vance in other areas as weI!; Priorities are set not in the lab they are now spending about or institute but by stale plan ners. often wit~out regard to 3.4% of their gross national product on research (ccm scientific realities . Says Bromley: "In our society. pared with 2.2% by the U.S.) Rocket carrying Soyuz spacecraft lIfts off from launch pad and an: training young scien For some, lavish support, Ihe beSI equipment and trips abroad. ideas boil to the surface more than they do in the Soviet tists and engineers at a rate three to four times that of the U.S. Still, for board" sciences, like astrophysics and cos Union . There is no intellectual ferment. aU the Iriumphs of Soviet science, it is mology. where absence of up-lo-date in no give-and-take." Also. the senior scien tists who run research institutions some plagued by major problems. some of strumentation is not critical to success. which may be endemic to the very system Exploration of the cosmos is another times do so with an iron hand. making it that has made science a national priority. key objective of the Soviets. Last year they more difficult for young. imaginative sci One sign: since 1917, the U .S.S.R . has won launched payloads into orbit at a rate ten entists to press ahead wilh daring ideas. only eight Nobel Prizes in the sciences, times that of [he U.S. Many were military By contrast. most institutions in the U.S. less than a tenlh as many as the U.S. satellites. but they also included a number are on.!y too eager to advance promising Most of the best and heavi ly support of manned flights. Indeed , only last week newcomers with an innovative spirit. Says ed research is done under military auspic two more cosmonauts returned from a vis MJ.T .'s Loren Graham : "That's the glory es, which means that the work is kept il to the Salyut 6 space station. which has of American science." Finally. there are the polilical com tightly under wraps. For this reason , been circling the earth for nearly three Western analysts long could only guess years. By contrast, although the U.S. has missars who are part of virtually all re about Soviet progress in, say, lasers and scored a flurry of spectacular successes search establishments. They not only en electron beams. Both of these technologies with unmanned planetary probes, no force ideological purity-for example. are essential to achieving a key Soviet de American has flown in space since 1975. blackballing dissidents- but can veto fense goal : an anlisatellite satellite. After The Soviets are leaders in more down projects that do not fit in with their con word that tbe Soviets had developed such to-earth branches of physics, especially ceptions of research. Indeed. only now is a killer satellite reached Washi ngton, the the search for heavy elements. Their Soviet biology catching up l'\'ith the West Carter Administration quietly ordered the doughnut-shaped tokamak machines. in after years of backwardness under Trofim Pentagon to step up its own studies of which hydrogen plasma is contained and L ysenko. Sta[jn 's chief scientific hatchet these devices. compressed by powerful magnetic fields man. who regarded work in traditional ge _ In nonmilitary areas. the Soviet scien and heated to sUllJjke temperatures, offer netics as heretical.

Closing the Gap with the West

TlME.JUNE23. 1980

co U

ci TIM

Medicine

Amid the latest equipment, a team performs an operation in a special Moscow hospital

Mustard Plasters to Heart Surgery A revolution in health care that is still being fought owering, superbly equipped re search institutes contrast with hos pitals that are bleak, antlquated and poorly staffed. Some Soviet physicians are equal to the best in the West in such fields as orthopedics and ophthalmology: yet doctors still use such primitive ther- , apies as mustard plasters and cupping and even leeches. Trealment is administered free and drugs· are inexpensive, yet pa tients often must bribe doctors and nurs es for medication, operations. even to have linen changed and bedpans emptied. Such is the parcluoxical state of So viet medicine. Even so, the Soviets have made greal strides in health care since 1917. Says Washington, nc., Internist William Knaus, who lived in the U.S.S.R. for 18 monlhs and is the auchor of a forth coming book, IT/side Russian Medicine: "They took a country that was 200 years behind the rest of the world and provid ed the basics at a fraclion of what we charge. They eliminated epidemics. Life expectancy is up and infant mortality is down. That has to be judged a success." Just before the revolution, the aver age life expectancy was about 30 years. By the 196()s men were living on average to 66, women to 74 (about the life ex pectancy ofUB. citizens). In 1950.84 chil dren out of every 1,000 died before the age of one. By 1971 infant mortality had dropped to 23 deaths per thousand. Late ly, though, these ga.ins seem to be erod ing. Life expectancy for men has been dropping, in parl because of rampant al wholism, and observers say that the U.S.S.R. is losing 30 of every 1,000 new citizens (double the U.S. figure), Spearheading the medical care effort TIME. JUNE 23.1980

are the nation's 900,000 physicians. twice as many as in the U.S., and a fourth of aU the world 's doctors. A bout 70% ofthem are women. Backing them up are 2.7 mil lion nurses and /eldshers. or paramedics. Notes Knaus: "Theirs .is a people-inten sive system , ours is machine-intensive." Nevertheless, the Soviets have gleam ing facilities that are equal to anything in the U.S. TIME Moscow Bureau Chief Bruce Nelan recently toured three such centers in or near the Soviet capital. His report: "The Bakulev lnstitute of Cardio vascular Surgery, nlll by inlernationaUy recognized heart surgeon Vladimir Bura

kovsky, has performed at least 20,000 heart operations since it was established in 1956, 2,000 of them on children under age two. There are now 40 operations a week in its nine operating theaters. "Eight miles away. on the city's south eastern outskirts, is the Soviet Union's most imposing medical institution: the Cancer Research Center of the Academy of Medica.1 Sciences. Back in 1969 pro ceeds from the Soviet Union 's annual day of voluntary work. called the subbotnik, were turned over to the academy for a new cancer center. About $128 million was contributed to help build a huge com plex covering three city blocks, with 1,000 beds for patients. A staff of 4,000 works with the besc equipment. purchased from all over the world. In the radiation ther apy department, the doctors are partic ularly proud of thei r high-energy electron and proton accelerator from France. Pro fessor Nikolai Trapeznikov, the center's deputy director-general. stresses that the work here is mostly experimental: 'For routine treatment there are 250 other spe cialized cancer hospitals in the Soviet Union. almost one in every large city.' "In a wooded area in northern Mos cow stands the Research Institute of Transplantation and Artificial Organs. Though its present Quarters are two dec ades old and cramped. the scientific equipment is the newest and best. from the U.S. , West Germany, Italy and the So viet Union. Jokes its director, famed Sur geon Valeri Shumakov: 'Our equipment is an international tean.' The institute does most of the kidney trilnsplants in the Soviet Union (sometimes exchanging the organs with European and American hos pitals). and will soon begin doing liver transplants and resume attempts at pan creas transplants as well:' Yet' outside showplace institutions,

Pediatrician attending a youngster who is reCOVering from major surgery

"Theirs is a people-intensive system, ours is machine-intensive. " 51

medical care is surprisingly primitive for a developed country. Most Soviet physi cians are unaware of current medical de velopments outside their country, largely because of limited access to foreign pro fess ional publications. Boston Endocri nologist Aron Lurie, who has been tutor ing emigre doctors, reports that a standard teaching tool in the U.S.S.R. is the 1950 edition of Harrison's Principles of Inter nal Medicine . When asked why Soviet doctors did not use more up-t.o-date edi tions. Lurie's exile students replied that translations are costly. and besides, sajd one. "not much new has happened in medicine since 1950:' part from the leading institutes, So viet hospitals are mostly old, di ~ lapidated and sometimes incredi bly filthy . Drugs, equipment and techniques that Americans t.ake for grant ed are rare or Jacking in the U.S.S.R . Most. blood tests are done manually rather than by automated equipment, and doctors must sometimes wait three or four days for the results. Disposable syringes and needles are virtually nonex.istent. There are few kidney dialysis machines, and most physicians have not seen a CAT scan ner, tbe computerized X-ray machine that is the rage among doctors in the West. Medications frequently run out. Birth control is another area where the Soviets are Jagging. The government's ideal family has three children, but cou ples are forced to use the unreliable rhythm method or coitus interruptus, with abortion as a back-up. According to Dr. Knaus, Soviet men do not like condoms. dia.phragms come in only one size, and the pill (which isjust beginning to be man ufactured within the U .S.S.R.) is regard ed with skepticism and fear. Intra-uter ine devices are popular but in shon supply. The result: in 1980 Soviet doctors performed an estimated 16 million abor tions. Says Dr. Knaus: "The average woman has six abortions during her life time. A woman in Odessa told me, with out hesitation, that her mother had had 24." While better equipment and treat ments are a vailable for the political elite, they also have problems. Dr. Warren Za pol, an anesthesiologist at Boston's Mas sachusetts General Hospital, tells of being asked to tend the daughter of Heart Sur geon Burakovsky. The patient, herself a doctor, had entered a general hospital in Moscow with abdominal pain, but tben, as can happen in hospitals anywhere, "she got into trouble," says Zapol. She appar ently had an infected fallopian tube and then a "misadventure" with anesthesia. followed by cardiac arrest and blood in fection . When Zapol arrived in Moscow. she was having difficulty breathing and her chances of survival seemed slim. In the end, she survived-with the aid of equipment and drugs from the U .S. and the care of dedicated doctors from both countries. • 52

fc h

(

in in

Paramedic comforts cardiac patient being whisked to a hospital by ambulance

Dial 03 for Speedy Emergency Aid On dUly with Ihe Soviets' efficient ambulance corps ~

broughom most of the Soviet Union, dialing the number 03 brings almost instant medical help. This emergency service works best in Moscow, where 800 ambulances staffed by 2.000 doctors, 5.500 medical assistants and 2.400 drivers answer an average of 8,000 calls a day-at 110 charge. TlME Re porter-Researcher John Kohan rode with one ambulance team for pan ofits twelve hour toW" and filed this report: 3:35 p.m. A call comes in to the cen tral ambulance statjon at 10 Koptelsky Lane. One of 34 telephone operators notes on a.lavender slip of paper the time, name, address and problem- chest pains and dizziness. The slip is relayed to a second room of dispatchers who stay in constant touch with the 36 ambulance substations in the city. Most substations serve a radius of two to three miles, but there are special ty brigades in such disciplines as cardiol ogy that cover the city at large. This call is referred to a cardio-resus citation group, one of 34 medical teams in a substation adjoining central headquar ters. Dr. Vladimir Serov. 33, two feJdshers (paramedics) and a driver climb into a white minibus with the words Skoraya Meditsinskaya Pomoshch (Quick Medical Aid) stenciled on its side. It is equipped with stretchers, medications and dress ings, an electrocardiograph machine, heart resuscita.tor and a respirator. The driver flicks on the flashing blue rooftop light and pulls out into traffic. 4:05. At the Vernadsky Prospekt apartment complex, the team finds a corpulent 55-year-old man, clad in an •

undershirt and slacks, silting on a couch . Serov asks: Is there pain or shortness of breath when he walks? No. Is he under medication? Yes, for high blood pressure. Does he have a recent cardiogram? The patient's wife nervously flips through a book until the cardiogram drops out. Ser ov quickly decides that the man should be hospitalized. 4:40. The ambulance pulls up at Hos pital No. 51 in the Kievsky district; the pa tient, clutching a plastic bag filled with personal articles. is escorted inside. While one of the feldshers completes her notes. Serov and the other paramedic take a per ekur (smoking break) . 4:45. The team is back on the road, heading for Frunzenskaya Street to an swer another call. 5:10. A plump 74-year-old woman in a faded nightdress answers the door. Al most incoherently , she explains how she collapsed that morning after walking into the kitchen . Vials of medicine for a heart condibon litter the bedside table. The paramedics move in the EKG equipment and take a tracing. "An arrhythmic heart. Arteriosclerosis," announces Serov. "You know it often happens that the best we can do is offer help but not a cure. We can only make things easier for her.·' Serov decides against hospitalization-the woman did not want to go anyway-and orders her to stay in bed for a day or two. As the team leaves, the old woman, in a quavering voice, offers profuse thanks. 5:30. The ambulance sets out for Koptelsky Lane. Only 3X hours left on the shift. • TIME. JUNE 23. 1980

!"o!

a criminal pretrial inve.stigation is to be completed within two months, unless an extension is granted . In some circum stances. accused persons can be held for The system that was to fade away is now arbiter everyth ing nine months before trial. although this limit may be extended in cases of polit oon in the Babushkinsky District izen can take his case to court.· ' ical crimes. Indeed , dissidents and other People's Court in northern Mos Many do. Civil cases account for government targets live in an entirely cow, The judge, a petite brunet in about 85% of all judicial activity. reflect different legal world. Once authorities a striped blouse and skin, enters the room, ing the fact that courts have become not decide that they. wallt to convict a trou Two citizen-jurists called " people's asses onJya guardian of the state's authority but blemaker. they bend any rule·s that sors," an elderly man and a young woman, also the arbiter of all sorts of social mat interfere. follow her to (he high-backed chairs be ters, Says Columbia Law Professor John The U.S.S.R'"s legal system is a prod hind the bench, On the docket: BorisoVll H.azard: 'They spend most of their time uct in part of reforms launched by Ni vs. Borisov. a divorce case. determining who should get what apart kita Khrushchev in the late 1950s and ment space. who has earned what salary, early 1960s to make Soviet justice fairer Boris Borisov. a researcher at a Mos cow institute. and his wife Nadezhda, who who should do w hat job, and so on ." than it was in Joseph Stalin 's era of ter J uslice, Soviet-style. is relativcJy ror. Each of the 15 republics has its own have been married for 15 years, sit apart in the front row of seats fac ' <., "'" " , criminal code: they are ba ing the bench. They might sically similar to one, anoth have been able to dissolve er. dealing not ollly with their marriage after a three standard crimes like theft month waiting period sim and rape but also with pe ply by applying a.t the civil culiarly Soviet offenses. Tt is forbidden. for example. to registry office. but because a child is involved, a boy of "sPeculale" )buy and r~sell four, a court proceeding is products for profit) and to required. issue repeatedly poor-qual The judge begins by ity or nonstandard goods. questioning Mrs. Borisova, Some of the codes. partic ularly those of the Central who tells about how her Asian republics. reflect old husband has been unfaith regional attitudes. in Uz ful and even ran offwith an bekistan. which is predom other woman during her inantly Muslim and has a pregnancy. That ended all tradition of men tuki.ng trust between them. Judge: But you have many wives. bigamy has lived together these four been made a crime punish years? able by a fine of $150 or a WIfe: If you call that year of hard labor, but there living. is no law . or need for it. aga inSl bigamy in the Judge : How does he Ukraine. where European treat you now'! monogamy prevails. W,je: We ouly commu The Soviet system nicate because of the child . roughly follows the French After eliciting a few and German model. While more details-{)ne point of defendants have many legal contention has been Mrs. safeguards. including a few Borisova's dinners of pota that eve n Americans lack toes or kasha-the judge Flanked by two citizen-jurists, a judge hears a case in a People's Court -they cannot be convicted turns to the husband. He Ell/orciflg han.l' all "speculatillg. .. bad goods and bigamy in Uzbekistan, on the basis of a can fession seems as resentful of his wife's unforgiving attitude as she is of his chea p and quick. Lawyers are not re alone. for instance----the concept of the infidelity, Eventually, the judge and the quired in civiJ cases: The anorney's role righ ts of the accused is not as developed as assessors reach their decision: no divorce, is often played by tbejudge. who not only it is in the U ,S. Says Political Science Pro for now. A final judgmenl wiIJ be post sets aside time to hear citizens' legal fessor Paul Zinner of the University of poned until August in hope.s that the Bo plaints but also prepares the person's case California at Davis: "The key difference is risovs can settle their differences by then. if the claim is valid. Courts hear disputes that society's in terests in the U.S,S.R .. as Laws and courts, like the stale, were involving employment and alimony free interpreted by the judge. are paramOUlltlO supposed to fade away as the Soviet sys of charge; in other civil actions. such. as any individual interest. So there is no tem developed . Instead they have flour complaints abom living quarters. the fee question. as there is in the U.S.. about pro ished . The Babushkinsky District People's can be as low as 75¢. Divorces, which are tetting individual rights per se." Court. one of 32 in Moscow. is a typical 011 the rise, if still less frequent than in Crimi.nal cases feature a pretrial ill tribunal empowered to try practically all the U.S. (.3 divorces per marriage. vs. vestigat.ion supervised by a state official civil and criminal cases. It employs ten America's .5). are also inexpensive: the called the procurator. who acts as both full-tinl e judges (seven of them women) basic filing fee is aboUt $15. though ad the proseclltor and protector of the sus and 750 people's assessors; these lay jur ditional charges can I'un the final divorce pecl's interests: the defendant may not ists, elected by co-workers or neighbors. bill tip to $ 150. a big chunk of the av have counsel participate until the inves consider the job an honor. Judicial busi erage worker's $24D-a-month wage. tigation is completed . Generally. procu ness is booming, explains the chief judge. By law. a civil suit should be wrapped rators strive to be objective. Defendants up within a month after it is filed. and whose cases reach court arc almost al L_:olina Gorelova', because "here any cit

With Justice for (Almost) All

T1ML!. J UNE 23. 1980

ways convicted. bUL lhat is because the procuraLors drop weak cases before they are tried. The accused are presumed i.n nocen! in theory. In practice. a person \\ ho is tried frequenLly has the burden of proving that he is nm guilty. There are no juries; the judge and the lay assessors alone decide cases. While Ln U.S. eotlrts on ly the defendalll may appeal. Soviellaw extends this right LO both panics. Matters of Communist Party disci pline are sell led in secretive party lribu n als. Commercial disputes between state enterprises. typically involving delivery delays and complaims about quality. are dealt with by special arbitration panels. Minor civil and criminal matters are han dlcd by Comrades' Courts. which deal with stich pelty matters as tenant griev ances and driver's license suspensions. Under an antihoo]iganism law enacled in 1966 to cover crimes ranging from dis orderly conduct lo assault. a parrolman can write up a citizen for minor olfenscs like rowdyism and public drunkenne,ss. and within 24 hours the chief of police will decide whether to fine the offender or forward the case to the Peop[e's CourL Sentences can be harsh: some eco nomic crimes. such as major embezzle ment of state property. can even brlng dea th . Judges generally do not ha nd down the long prison hitches that U.S. couns often mete our in antidpation of early pa role. but Soviet convicts are more likely to serve full terms. And lhey toil hard. both in the prisons where repeat offend ers or dangerous criminals are kept and in the work camps housing most of the conviCl population of about 2 million . In the U ,S, the Constitution is par amount. and cOLlns can toss llut laws judged inconsistent wiLh it. In the U,S.S. R .. la ws enacLed by the Supreme So viet take prccedence over conflicting pro visions in the constitution. which is less a [egal pillar rhan a policy statement: among other things. it limils the work week to 41 hours, and it obliges children to care for and help thelr parents. While rhe Soviels do have a Supreme COlin. it does not, in effect. have, the power to make law, nor can it strike down statutes en acted by the legislature. Traditionally the Soviets have held lawyers in [Ov,,' esteem . which may be apt for a country in which laws were S\lpposed to be necessary only during the transi lion to a self-governing society that would not require courts. prosecutors and polke, But increasingly the Soviel authorities fi nd themselves resorting to 1aw to accom plish goals and deal with change. One resull has been a heavy demand for allorneys. The number of law schools has risc,n from 36 LO 50 since 1970, and an unprecedented measure of prestige is accruing to the profession . Some observ ers have even suggested something lhat Marx, Lenin or Stalin would have found unthinkable: in 30 years or so. the coun try's Establisllment could include a lib eral sprinkling of lawyers. • 54

A Bit Wild in the Big City---------------------Youih crime grows, as booze spreads and Babushka recedes

ark Kasakevieh. 19. a Soviet em igram to rhe U.S .. has a haunting recollection of his old life in Mos cow. " It is amazing how cruelty to an imals was so accepre,d :' he says. "Boys. lorally unprovoked . would kick dogs uo til they were hal f dead . You would see cats and dogs limping around wilh an ear ClIt off or Slab wounds in the side." Animals. sadly. are not the only lar gets ofdcstrllctive youths, who account for about half of lhe nation's street crime. theft and burglary. and one out often mur ders. ]0 Georgia last year two girls of 15 were charged with killing two other teen agers JUSt to get their prized blue jeans. In

the problem are stich social ills as alco hol abuse. broken famiJies. crowded liv ing conditions--and boredom . "Drun kcn ness," says Police Lieu!. General Pyotr O leinik. "is the mother of hooliganism. " A Leningrad sLUdy found tbal in most families of youthful offenders one or both parents had a drLnkillg problem . Accord ing to an official Soviet repon. 84 ~'( of young people begin drinking before the age of 16. Because of the high di vorce rate and because most wives have jobs. young sters are too frequently left. to their own devices. The days of the extended family. when Babushka (Grandmmher) was a stabilizing influence. are disappearing.

Moscow pollee arresting a young man suspected of having committed a robbery

A spreadinf{ phenomenoll fhaT "hits the regime where it hurts the mOST. " Belorussia. eleven youths were arrested after a rampage in which they beat a po liceman to death, In Leningrad vandals thought to be youlhs smashed 29 statues in the garden of the Sum mer Palace. Moscow is still safer than New York City. but the U.S: s high juvenile crime rate is smaU comfort to Soviet officials. What they eall hooliganism--public dis orderliness. minor assault and vandalism - is widespread : gangs of youths often lurk around the paths and stairwells of Moscow's apartment complexes. bullying residents. As a result. the city is encour aging the growth of volunteer auxiliary police and bolster ing the already highly visible, regular police force, It is not only Lhe extent of juvenile crime thaI. worries the Soviets but the ideological contra.diction that is involved: in a Communist society antisocial behav ior should be on the wane. "It hits the re gime where it hurts most." says the Uni versity of South Carolina's Gordon Smith. who has writLen extensively on Soviet youth and criminal jusr,lce. At the rooL of

Urbanization . restricted living space (many Moscow famiJies still live in a sin gle room) and growing independence mean that Grandmother is no longer available to care for grandchildren. With no supervision and lillie to do. particu larly in the suburbs. youngsters are primed for trouble. Explains Criminology Professor Louise Shelley of American Ulliversily ill WaShington. D,C.: "One of the stereoLypes in the U,S.S,R. is the kid who lives on the edge of Moscow. comes in for the day. gets drunk in the trail1 sta tion and goes a bit wild in the big city, " Offenders may be tried in adult couns if lhey are over 16 and the crime is se rious. Otherwise they are handled by the Commissions on Juvenile Affairs. which emphasize rehabilitarion by counseling rather than imprisonment (though in some cases parents may be tined for their children's transgressions)' There are ex ceptions. though. LasL year two technical school students were sent to a labor camp for seven years after they stabbed to death three of the Moscow Zoo's kangaroos, • T1Mt.IU , E2J 1980

ball Bon tnrC'

pros eign

a e,

cart. refe!

Black and White, and Red AI Over Pravda prints all the news that fits the party line n periods of Eas t-West tension. passages from its pages are quoted in the Western press like captured battlefield communiques. Specialists in Bonn. London , Paris and WashiJlgton sift through its stilted. often impenetrable prose searching for subtle shifts in for eign policy. Photographs of the ruling elite arc scrutinized for changes in status, and cartoons are scoured for arcane politica.1 references. "Pra vda," says its editor. Vic tor Afanasyev. "is read on the lines and between the lines." Indeed. few newspapers are read as closely or laken as seriously as Pravda (circ. II milEon). the Soviet Union's lead· ing daily. (Second in impartance is Iz vestiya. the government dail)i. eire, 8.6 mill.ion.J The paper is published by the Central Committee of the Soviet Commu nist Party and [Des the party line. hence the government line, on matters great and small. Pravda me.'lnS truth, but when facts and ideology coUide, ideology prevails. Says Thomas Kolesnichenko, Pravda cor respondent in New York: "We try to give people a story that is true. but in terms of a historical perspective, in terms of our understanding of world events," Pravda is skinny compared with U.S. dailies (only six pages mOst days), partly because there are no advertisements, part· Iy because newsprint supplies are chron ically short. But the paper's production and distribution system dwarfs anything in the West. Pages are transmitted by sat ellite to printing plants in more than 40 cities. so the whole country gets delivery the same morning. Pravda employs 180 editors and writers in Moscow, 60 staff re palters around the country and 40 for eign correspondents. Fewer than half of these journalists come (rom journalism schools; the rest have worked their way up from small papers or party positions. Each morning at Ll , Afanasyev and his 30 deputy and department editors meet to make final changes in that day's edition and 1.0 layout most of the fol lowing day's paper. All decisions are made with the party in mind . A full mem ber of the party Central Committee, A f anasyev has direct access to top govern ment leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev. The paper's two dozen departments (di vided by geographical area and subject matter) are in close contact with the par ty's propaganda department and with government bureaus. Yet Afanasyev de nies that everything in the paper is dic tated by apparatchiks. Says he: "Tn real ity, we do the majority of our sLOries ourselves. Our commentators IIhe equiv alent of U .S. columnists] often express their own point of view. As a whole. of course, it coincides with the view of the TIME, JUNE23,1980

party . but shadings could be different." Because Pravda is. in effect, the voice of [he pany, the paper does not have a government censor. The· editors are re o sponsible for blue-penciling incorrect tlllnking. but they rarely have to, Explains Arkadi Polishchuk. a New York-based emigre who sometimes writes for Prav da: "A Soviet journalist knows what will pass an d what won·t. He has an 'inner ed ilOr' with in him , One Slep out of line and a journalist's career is washed up." The most important news in Pra~'d{/ is not always on the front page-which consists of major editorials, official al] nouncements . and fanfare about grand Soviet achievements in industry. agricul ture and foreign affairs. Page 2 contains

don' t attack Caner personally and we don't publish cartoons of him. We criticize him as a politician, not as a personality." A brupt changes ion Soviet foreign pol icy sometimes force Pravda into improb a ble arabesques. Until late December. Af ghanistan President HafizuUah Amin was ha i led as a dear friend of the U .S.S,R .: the day after his assassina tion in a coup. he was pilloried as an "agent of American imperialism ," Without mentioning that the Soviets had helped t.o pple Amin. Prav da ran a fron t-page congratulatory mes sage to his successor. The newspaper re ported the invasion several days later, and then only \','ith a brief item from TASS. thc Soviet news agency, disclosing that the U.S,S.R, had acceded to an Afghan re quest for military aid, A few days after that Pravda described the invasion force as "a limited Soviet military contingent to be used exclusi vely as aid in repulsing out side armed interference." This became the official Soviet line. ravda makes no mention of train crashes, crime rates. consumer purchasing power. state security mat ters. subsid ies for athletes, or political disputes. Several years ago. wben a n um ber of workmen were killed a[ the site of its own new headquarters building on Pravda Street. the paper ignored the acci dent. Pravda has an aversion to admitting mistakes. preferring to run a second. and accurate article a[ some future date. The paper seems to be doing more muckraking these days. usually focusing o n misfeasance by major and min or of ficials. Afanasyev says the editors approve such articles when they feel that the re ports will " improve the situation ." Says he: "We are not interested in scandals in private life or discrediting an official. We do not do any t hing that can hun our way of life, Ollr system. our principles:' To what ex tent readers believe Prav da s idealized version of Soviet life is dif fic ult to determi ne. The paper's various re,gponses to reader requests for informa tion and ad vice are followed a vidly (see box ). mdeed. Pravda :~ New York corre spondent sa ys he gets calls li'om Soviet emigres who want the paper to write about their problems in finding jobs and housiug. All told. Pravda received (and answered ) more tban 600.000 letters last year. a measure of reader loya Ity that most Wes tern editors would envy. But readers who like their newspapers free , fat and unfettered will l1atlike Prav da . h is best known abroad not for its news coverage but for the pseudonymous. party-commi ss ioned pieces by"!. Alex· androv" tha t a re used to send ignals to the West. T he com posite A lexandrav is a fitt ing meta phor for journa lism in the U.S.S.R, Says Polishchuk: "Soviet jour n alists are in complete unison with the voice of the stale. Any of them could be r. AJexandrov at an y given time:' •

Factory workers poring over Pravda

"Read on rhe lines and be/ween Ihe lines.

mostly economic reports and party news; page 3. science. culture and reader let ters; pages 4 and 5 cover items from So viet bloc countries, international and breaking news: page 6. sports, television listings and feature stories. Thus, in one issue last week, a slOry about SlIllliller health resorts for factory workers is fouod on Page One. while an analysis of the U ,S. presidential race is on page 5, Stories about the West almost invari ably emphasize doom and gloom, with such headlines as SOC IETY or VIOLATED RIGHTS or WOR LD OF C APITAL: SOC IA L PROAL EMS , Correspondents overseas do not deny t hat their primary duly is to pro mote socialism. N or lon.g ago. for instance. Pravda man in London joined a picket line of str ik ing steelwo rkers. "' for whom the class struggle is a daily reality, a neces sity. a duty: ' Correspondents are restrict ed, however. in what they can say about foreign leaders. Says Afanasyev: "We

The Tough Search for Power

A different kind 0/ oil problem: getting at a bountzful supply he Soviet U DiOtl.. like the U.S.. faces serious energy problems in the 1980s. The U.S.S.R . is by fur the world's largest oil producer (11.9 mil lion bb1. per day, Vol'. 9.5 million bbJ. for Saudi Arabia). Nonetheless, in the view of many Western energy analysts. the So viet Union will soon run into a petrole um bind even though the country is an Eden of energy riches. The Soviet squeeze, however. is dra matically different from the American one. Energy wildcatters and big oil COID-

Soviets would have to start importing petroleum before 1985. The CIA updated that study last year and said that Soviet oil output could fall as low as 8 million bb1. in 1985. I f this view is accurate. the Soviet Union will soon have to halt its lucrative oil exports. including J29 mil lion bbl. to such Western nations as Italy. West Germany and Austria . Last year petroleum was the largest Soviet export, with about $6 billion i.n precious foreign exchange coming from Western Europe alone. An end LO oil exports. moreover. would weaken the political and economic

Drilling rigs march to the horizon in the Baku fields near the Iranian border

The enemy is geography, and its allies are mismanagement and poor equipment. panies have exhaustively drilled the West ern Hemisphere for more than a cen tury, and the U.S. has been forced to rely on imports for half its oil because it has simply outgrown its readiJy available reserves. The Soviets. on the other hand. still have enormous amounts of oil in the ground. with estimated proven re serves of 67 billion bbl. of oil, compared with 26 billion for the U.S. and 166 bil lion for Saudi Arabia. But even though Moscow planners are not hindered by environmental protest groups or disagree ments between government and industry . they have greater trouble finding the oiL getting it out of the ground and. finally , transporting it to where it is needed. Just how prolonged and ho.....· severe the U .S.S.R.·s energy gap will prove to be is a subject of widespread discussion. The CIA. in a controversial and crit icized report in 1977, predicted that the

hegemony the Soviets have over their East bloc satellites and Cuba. which are heavily dependent on Soviet petroleum supplies_ Should [he Soviets CUt back their own energy consumption, or that of their sat ellites in Eastern Europe. the move would surely hun their economic growth . Even in a dictatorship with the power to en force harsh conservation measures. the political consequences might not be pleas ant. Some feel that the country's growth is already slowing because of the power squeeze. Says former Department of En ergy Chief James Schlesinger: "There's just no doubt that Soviet economk growrh has been constrained by energy shoI"lages.·' Alexander Krylov, a top Soviet oil expert and a member of the A:cademy of Sciences, has pre.dicted that "national oil output wiJI peak in a relatively short

time and then start to fall." Yet other energy experts in both the East and the West are more optimistic about Soviet pOtentiaL Leadi1lg Kremlin officials in sist that their country will remain a net exporter of oil and natural gas for [he next 50 years. Economist Marshall Gold man of Wellesley CoUege maintains in his book The Enigma 0/ SOVieT Petro lewlI : Half Empty or Half Ful!? [hat the Soviets will actually increase production of energy by 21k to 3% a year through 1985 and possibly more in the years af terward . Most experts believe that the Sovier Union will eventually solve the difficult problems of extracting its re serves. In a Communist command econ omy. Soviet managers are able to bull doze important national priority projects. like energy development. through normal roadblocks. Whatever theil- longer term views. independent observers agree tha_t the U.S.S.R. will suffer some Western-style energy headaches in the next few years. Indeed. the Soviets are already suffering the first symptoms of the cOIning crunch. Gasol ine prices have doubled during the past two years. to roughly $1.25 per gal. Plans to expand car prodUCtion beyond the present million-a-year JeveJ ha ve been shelved: talk of buiJding a second large automobile and [ruck factory has ceased: and Pravda, the Communist Party news paper, has primed. lengthy ex hortation s to conserve energy. E xcept at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. where many for eign flights arrive. jets of Aeroftot. the natjonal airline. no longer use their own engines to taxi into takeoff position: to save fuel , they are towed into position by tractors. NATO radar bases report that Soviet air force training flights, already 30% below those of [he U .S. and Eu rope. have been cUt back even further. he basic cause of the Soviet energy problem is geography. The bul k o f the nation's pop ulati on- and most of its in dustry- is in the western half of th e country. The major oil reserves. as well as [he sites most likely to yield new supplies. lie thousands of miles away. ill Siberia. Gelling the oil from where it is to where i[ is needed requires more railroads and pipelines than the U.S.S.R. possesses or will be a ble to build in thc near future . Another difficulty is managemen t. Oil experts say that the Soviets have not done a good job of handling their reTlM C. J UN [ 23. 1980

p u r

n· fa

rr. IC dl nl

m TIM

sources. Reports Arthur Meyerhoff, a Tulsa, Okla., oil engineer who has trav eled widely in the U.S.S.R. : "To say that the Soviets have mismanaged their pe troleum industry is the understatement of the year." Western oilmen say that the Soviets made their first serious mis take when they set drilljng targets in terms of meters drilled, thus making a deep dry hole as good as a gusher in terms of fulfilling the plan. Another serious mistake, say U.S. ex perts, was deciding to accelerate produc tion by employing a technique known as water injection, whereby water is forced into wells to make the crude petroleum easier to pump. Result: more oil in the short run, but less in the long term. Some older wells in the Volga-Ural region now pump five barrels of water for every bar rel of oil; and the average Soviet well pumps 50% water. Soviet energy policy has been plagued by bureaucratic infighting and indecisive ness. No fewer than 15 different govern ment ministries are involved in energy policy. Indeed, it was not until late 1977

How can the Soviets meet their en ergy needs? Certainly not through con servation by consumers. Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet leaders ha.ve called re peatedly for conservation, but there is not much fat to trim in the consumer sector. A nation that has only one automobile for every 42 people (the U.S. ha.s one for every two people) and does most of its long-distance hauling by rail cannot cut back much on gasoline consumption. Some savings might be possible in fac tories, since Soviet industry is notoriously wasteful of energy. largely because tbe government sells energy to industries at low rates, which invites managers to squander it. But significanr conservation may be impossible without economic de centralization, and that is politically unfeasible. To some degree, the Soviets can sub stitute other energy sources for oil. The Soviet Union has 28 trillion m l of nat ural gas, which is a third of the world's proven reserves and enough to last 70 years at current rates of consumption. Gas production is currently booming.

enough energy to meet tbeir own needs, they have two alternatives, neither of which bodes well for the rest of the world. They could use their gold reserves to com pete with Western buyers on the already strained world oil market. This would push prices higher and cause incalculable economic turmoil . Or the Soviets could try to conquer Persian Gulf oilfields, which begin just across their southern bor der. Kremlin leaders flatly deny that they covet oil vital to the industrial West, but intelligence sources report that even Sau di Arabian leaders have held informal talks with the Soviets about the possibil i ty of selling crude in exchange for Soviet aid in refinery construction. Given the po litical instability of most Middle Eastern regimes, many Western experts fear the Soviets could intimidate them into bar tering their oil for a token amount of tech nical aid. Says Schlesinger: "Unless the U.S. is prepared to put more muscle into its position in the Persian Gulf. we can ex pect increased Soviet pressures." Few U.S. authorities believe it is to American advantage for the Soviets to

A cluster of JOG-ft.-high reactor cooling towers pour out steam into the night at Novo\loronezh ~uclear power station south of Moscow

that the Communist Party authorized an all-out program for oil exploration and de velopment. necessitating a rush of orders for U.S. equipment. The Soviets have not kept up with progress in the petroleum industry, a sit ualion exacerbated by Western trade restrictions, like those imposed by the U .S. after the Afghanistan invasion. Vla dimir Dolgikh, the Communist Party secretary for heavy industry, admitted last January that the only way to realize ambitious plans for developing energy sources in Siberia would be " to intro duce new equipment, improve technology and raise labor productivity." Soviet oil-drilling equipment is es timated to be about 40 years behind that found in the West. The standard Soviet turbodrill, for example, bores much more slowly than American equipment. It takes a Soviet team 14 months to dig down 10,000 ft .; U.S. drilling teams can reach that depth in 34 days. Seismic tech nology, essential for exploration, also lags far behind. The best Soviet gear probes down to 7,000 ft.; U.S. equipment is more accurate and goes down to at least 10,000 ft . Given the state of their in dustry, says Meyerhoff, " there is simply no way that the Soviets are going to meet their crude oil requirements." TIME. JUNE 23,1980

Coal. which the Soviets also have in . suffer from an energy shortage. But some, abundance. is unlikely (0 fill much of like Samuel Huntington, a Harvard for the gap. Soviet coal reserves total 7 tril eign policy strategist, advocate keeping a lion tons, or enough to last 350 years, tight rein on shipments of all oil tech but most of the coal. like the other fu nology and equipment unless the Krem els, is in Siberia. where distance and cli lin is willing to make political concessions mate make exploitation difficult. The coal in return. is primarily low-grade, high-polluting lig Others find such an approach short njte, and much of it is pyrophoric, that sighted. They believe that the U.S. should is to say, it can ignite spontaneously help the Soviets to expand and exploit upon contact with oxygen. Still, Western their fuel reserves. Says Theodore Sha analysts are baffled by the U .S.S.R.'s de bad, a U.S. expert on Soviet natural re clining coal production. In 1979 output sources: " It is not in our interests to cre was 3 million tons less than in 1977 and ate an energy problem for the Soviets; it 33 mjDjon tons under the goal set by is in our interest that they be self-suffi cient." American attempts to deny the So the national economic plan. viets much-needed drilling technology uclear power should be a ma have not been totally successful. After jor help. Not h.indered by U .S. firms were stopped from making Jane Fonda-like ecology sales, the Soviets turned to Italian and zealots, the Soviet Unjon is French firms for the equipment. _ _ _ _..I moving ahead on nuclear en Because energy is the lifeblood of a ergy. T he country currently has 23 re modern industrial society. the Soviets will actors in operation, providing 10% of its undoubtedly make an all-out effort to tap electricity. about the same percentage their hard-to-get reserves. It remains to as in the US. But the Soviets intend to be seen, though, whether the country can build fast. The present Five-Year Plan accomplish the job in time to avert se calls for construction of ten reactors a rious shortages. Concludes Jack Ray, a year. Tenneco petroleum specialist who is of Yet even if their nuclear program goes ten in the Soviet Union: "With brute as planned, tbe Soviets will stilI need oil, strength and will power they'll muddle and lois of it. If they cannot produce through,just as they always do." •

....

.: .' ~ ~'R~I'igion ' '~'

_ • . .' .'

.' c

. _;.' ..~_ r; ,,~_

Unseparate Church and State After six decades, uneasy coexistence is a victory for Orthodoxy light rain is falling upon the Trin ity Monastery of St. Sergius in Za gorsk. The monastery stands be hind a fortress wall, haU a mile around and SO ft . thick, that protects the weath ered stones and ancient relics of Trinity Cathedral.lt is graduation day at the most important of the Soviet Union's three sur viving Russian Orthodox seminaries. The 78 graduates, clad in black tunics and trousers, take their places in the cathe dral before the ornate screen, hung with treasured icons, that separates the sanc tuary from the congregation. Hundreds of candles shimmer against the gold and silver on the walls, and tbe smell of hot wax mingles with that of flowers. Later, in the seminary builcling-a former tsarist palace-Pimen, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and head of the Russian Orthodox Church, bestows his blessing in a deep, resounding voice A prelate In full panoply and offers a few words of instruction. The Finding Russia in icons and ancient music. candidates stride forward to receive their diplomas and then bend to kiss the Pa wri tes on religious affairs, the new vigor triarch's hand. Afterward. new graduates, in the Orthodox Church is due to "wide friends, proud families and church dig spread disillusionment with Marxism" nitaries, assembled from all over the among the young. Others believe that the U .S.S.R., cline on bread, cheese, sausages rediscovery of Orthodoxy, complete with and potatoes. icons and ancient liturgical music, like a Something is stirring in Russian revival of interest in the nation's pre Orthodoxy. Congregations are getting revolutionary religious philosophers, is younger. Applications for seminaries are part of a new concern for Russia's his increasing. About two-thirds of the new torical culture. The best-known propopriests come from families that are indifferent or hostile to religion, a Throngs 01 worsblpers In Zagorsk at Easter service dramatic indication that youthful un believers are converting to Chris tianity, despite the atheist orienta tion of Soviet schools. The gradu ates at Zagorsk are about to take up their duties with a church that still maintains II ,O()() active parish es after six decades of Soviet rule, often marked by systematic perse cution. Official Soviet statistics admit two out of five burials are ac companied by a church service, and one out of six babies is baptized. In the Kbarkov cathedral there are 120 to 170 baptisms every Sunday. Today the Russian Orthodox Church has 73 bishops, IO,()()O priests and, according to U.S.S.R . government estimates, 30 million members who regularly attend ser vices. Some Orthodox priests put: baptized membership at 60 million . Intellectuals are converting, and long dormant theological de bates are reviving on such matters as whether to replace Old Church Slavonic with modern Russian in the liturgy. According to Anatoli l.evitin-Krasnov, a Soviet exile who S8

nent of religious renewal is exiled Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, but its keenest and most significant supporters are in the Soviet Union. Members of the Christian Seminar on Problems of Religious Re naissance, formed in 1974. proclaim: "We heard a call to salvation-the voice of our ancestors, our fathers, our saints. We found Russia." The religious wing of the human rights movement is another inclication of vigor. About half the samizdar (un derground writings) that reach the West are religious in content. Young religious rights activists are bolder than their eJ ders. The official Communist response to new religious stirrings has been mod ified reprisal. Five of the Christian Sem inar members are under arrest; others are being harassed or undergoing forced "psychiatric" treatment. In January au thorities arrested Father Dmitri Dudko, a Moscow priest whose tierysermons attacked official atheism. In what dis sidents consider a pre-Olympics "clean up," many other prominent Orthodox believers were rounded up in late 1979 and early 1980. Among them: Father Gleb Yakunin, an Orthodox priest who appealed to the regime and the World Council of Churches for religious liberty and founded the Christian Committee for the Defense of Believers' Rights in 1976. Even so, the Soviet government and the Orthodox Church leadership continue in an odd embrace---one that leaves the church semifree to operate, though it is politically controlled and thus compro mised. Despite Marxist dogma, Ortho doxy as a living faith in the U .S.S.R. »represents continuity with the na tion's pre-Soviet past. It also serves to legitimize the Communist gov ernment and its claims to "ac knowledge" religious practice. Considering the fact that the 1917 Revolution was dedicated to the destruction of religion, the pres ent standoff is something of a tri umph for Orthodoxy.· The early Bolshevik regime confisca.ted church lands and abolished reli gious influence in schools. Intense atheism campaigns in the 1920s and ' 30s led to the imprisonment and death of thousands of priests and the desecra.tion of countless church es. In the Ukrainian city of Kra matorsk, workers boasted that they burned 20,0()() icons in socialist competition. By 1939, when Stalin signed his pact with Hit.ler, the Rus 'The Russian Orthodox, the 4 million or more other Eastern Orthodox and the 43 million Muslims in the Soviet Union are much Jess harassed than the 2 million Soviet Jews, 4 million Roman Catholics and a small percentage of the country's 3 million Protes tants who bitterly resist all .\ale control of the church. Seven of these Protestant dissent ers have lived in the U.S. embassy in M05COW for I.WO years, seeking in vain to emigrate. TIME. JUNE 23 , J980

sian Orthodox Church had only 100 or so churches open throughout the Soviet Union, compared with 4(),437 before the Revolution . The historic turning point came when Hitler violated the pact, and his mecha nized divisions drove deep into the Soviet Union. The all-but-crushed church called upon the faithful to defend Mother Russia and quickly raised 300 million rubles for the Red Army. In desperate need ora spir itual force that could bolster national sol idarity, StaHn alJowed the church more freedom. Since then, except for a strong antireligious period in the late 1950s and early 19605, the church's right to peaceful coexistence with atheism has not been se riously threatened. , he price of survival is high. Arti

cle 52 of the 1977 Soviet constitu

tion assures citizens the " right to profess or not to profess any religion and

to conduct religious worship." BUl the

church is not permitted to give formal re ligious instruction to those under age 18. H is against Soviet law for a congregation to worship in public unless its members are officially registered. The state wields total control over whether a parish can use or repair a building, indeed whether a par ish can exist at. all. Within the church. government con trol is pervasive. The appointment of every cleric, from Patriarch Pimen on down, must be cleared by the Council for

Graduating seminarians at Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius in Zagorsk

Among The young, "widespread disillusionment wilh Marxism . ..

Religious Affairs, a government agency that supervises aLI religious matters. Un der these circumstances, contends Father Michael Meyerson-Aksyonov, a convert CO Orthodoxy who tried unsuccessfully to enter a Soviet seminary and is an emigre now living in the U.S., '·the priest is not the spiritual or moral leader of the com munity. He is a performer of rites and nothing more." State supervision is reinforced by ex tralegal methods. Most ofthis year's grad uates at Zagorsk were probably ap

.. . And an Atheist IB estselier HI.. hen the new edition hit the bookstores late last ...." year, 100,000 copies were snapped up in a matter of days. The smash seller? A revised and expand ed version of the ATheist's PockeT Dl:clionary, first issued in 1973 and put out by a state-run political publishing

house called Politiz.dat. The 280-page paperback, though "designed for propagandists, lecturers and organizers of atheistic work," has some of the appeal of forbidden fruit ; few books are ever published in the U.S.S.R. that deal with religion, even in a backhanded way. Definitions in the Atheist's Dictionary are written Karl M arx to conform with the basic Marxist line that religion is either 1) pure superstition or 2) " the opium of the people." God? An idea "used to justify and protect (he social order of exploiters." Heaven? It dis tracts peopLe from "the real tasks of the Communist rearrangement of life on earth." Conversely, hell dampens "the rage of the working people against their oppressors by planting a hope that [he latter will be punished after death." Easter fosters "ideas ofa class peace and forgi veness." Christ's love-thy neighbor teachi.ng is "egotistical and antihumane." The Russian Orthodox Church wins grudging praise for gradually surren dering to "the strengthening of Soviet power" and for denouncing "fascist ag gression " during the "greatj:>atriotic war" (World War IT). Still, its essence is defined as " reactionary." Judaism comes off less well, though the lexicon avoids anti-Semitism. Zionism is dismissed as "an ideology of chauvinism and a policy of anti-Sovielism by the big Jewish bourgeoisie closely connected with impe rialistic circles of capitalist countries." The word is not all negative, however. Atheism, readers learn, expresses the interests and aspirations of the working class and "serves the cause of spir itual liberation of the working masses from the burden of prejudices and de lusions of the past."

TIME, JUNE 23. 1980

proached at some point by the KGB secret police and asked to spy on colleagues. Some observers charge that promotion in the hierarchy tends to go not only to me diocrities but to men with known char acter weaknesses-which leaves them subject to blackmail. A high official of the World Council of Churches, which the Russian Orthodox Church was permitted to join in 1961, points out tbat the Orthodox hierarchy consists of "churchmen who are strug gling to safeguard their Christian integ rity against great odds." "What is amazing," notes Father Meyerson-Aksyonov, "is not tbat the church leadership is corrupt but that it is not so corrupt." In a possible sign of new independence. the Soviet delegates to the W .c.c. Executive Committee did not reg ister opposition to a resolution expressing "serious concern" over the Soviet "mil ita.ry action" in Afghanistan. and other world con t1 icts.

Government spokesmen profess plea sure with things as they are. So does Arch bishop Nikodim, 59, who is substituting for the ailing Metropolitan Yuvenali as foreign affairs direclOr of the church . ''In the West, for some reason, thousands of Orthodox priests in Russia are considered nearly as traitors, and two or three [dissi dent] persons are considered to be the churcb," says Nikodim . "I don't know Fa ther Dudko. Maybe he is a wonderful per son. But 1 think groups that exist. or would like to exist, around Dudko and others are not for the benefit of the church, since our church finds its beauty in unity. The ac tion of the church is not for sensation or ef fect. In our diocese in Kharkov. all the priests work zealously every day, take care of the people and preach. Thousands of priests work the same way and have no conflicts with the state." When problems arise with the state's watchdog agency, "we have respect for each other, and we always try to find a reasonable solution that would not destroy the harmony of re lations between church and state, nor harm the freedom of action of the church." • 59

h sl B

:v \\

e;>,

C(J

s{i sti an

Ritual of continuity: graduating students of Moscow Academic Choreographic School debut on the Bolshoi Theater stage

thl

. ~'

Dance

1)'1

d....

Pli spread feeling among the dancers that he is arbitrary and dictatorial. plays too many favorites and tampers heavyhand edly with (.he traditional repertory, while stifling new choreography by reserving Defections and artistic disputes rock the Bolshoi Ballet the major assignments for himself. Pri t was a mild spring evening in Mos anything new must be bolstered by a true ma Ballerina Maya PIisetskaya. now 54 and a revered figure in the U.S.S.R .. has cow, and the city's balletomanes knowledge of things past. '· No doubt. But Kbomutov is mistaken become leader of a rebellious faction of had turned out in force. The set ting was familiar: the ornately gilded. in suggesting that the Bolshoi's classical Bolshoi veterans.. including Maris Liepa plush-trimmed Bolshoi Theater. So was heritage is under auack in the We.';t. At a nd Mikhail Lavrovsky. Many younger the program, which included an adagio the moment, it seems far more endan dancers, not outspoken, are nevertheless from Sleeping Beauty and variations from gered from within. Even as the company known to feel that Grigorovich denies DOli Quixote and Le Corsaire. But wail. celebrates its latest crop of dance grad them opportunlties if they fail to catch Up onstage were none of the usual Bol uates, it is torn by internal dissension and his capricious favor. If some of Grigorovich's problems ap shoi Ballet stars. no Plisetskayas or Va wobbling in its artistic course. Its trou silyevs, no famlUar figures at all. In fact, bles broke out into the open last summer. pear to be backstage ego jostling, many although the dancers showed flashes of as the company began a U .S. tour. One others involve fundamental questions of the rigorous technique and expressive line of its most forceful stars. Alexander Go policy. A former character dancer, he that mark the Bolshoi style. there was here dunov, asked for asylum in New York came to the Bolshoi in 1964 from its great and there an unaccustomed slip, a slack City. Three weeks later. in Los Angeles, rival, the Kirov. bringing successful new fouette , a leaden lift. What, then, account two of its lesser known principals. Leo works with him. Then as now, the Kirov ed for the electric atmosphere in the the nid and Valentina Kozlov, bolted as well. exemplified the ideal of a pure, classical ater? Why was the audience applauding At the center of the troupe's difficul style. The Bolshoi, by contrast. champi so encouragingly. pointing out dancers ties is its wiry. intense artistic director. oned a more soulfully Slavic style, often and scribbling notes in programs? Yuri Grigorovich. 53. There is a wide bold and gaudy. Grigorovich seemed to of fer the hope of synthesizing the best Answer: a great cultural ritual was being enacted. The occasion, Pavlova and Husband Gordeyev performing in Romeo andJuliet of both companies. in 1968 he cre ated a hit, Sparlacus, with its surg two weeks ago, was the graduation ing mass movements, virile male program of the Moscow Academic roles and a long. lyrical pas de deux. Choreogra phic School. training then, however, his work has arm of the 204-year-old Bolshoi. begun to seem monotonous and ec The young dancers were making centric. Two years ago, in an unusu their traditional debuts on the stage al article in Pravda, the much be where they hope one day to reign as loved Liepa accused Grigorovich of soloists. Bolshoi training-indeed. showing a "disrespectful attitude" Soviet ballet training in general -imbues the students, from their in his sweeping revisions of tradi first moments at the barre, with a tional productions like Romeo and deep sense of style and history. Says Juliet. Grigorovich had a lot riding on the Bolshoi Ballet's administrative director. Pyotr Khomutov: "When last year's U.S. tour. A smashing our classical heritage is made a part success could have reconfirmed the of the educational program , the stu Bolshoi's stature, boosted morale dents. afterward, can do anything. and quieted the critics. His dancers In the West, you seem to be anti-this certainly won their share of bravos: and anti-that, as if such an ap his wife Natalya Bessmertnova, proach were modern and novel. BUl G odunov before his departure, and

A Cultural 'M arvel in Crisis

TIME. JUNE 23. 1980

1'01

ba m (

the young ballerina Lyudmila Semenya ka. In particular. audiences took to their hearts the husband-wife team of Vyache slav Gordeyev and Nadezhda Pavlova. But Grigorovich's choreography only came in for more lumps. Then there were the defections. Grigorovich returned to Moscow more embattled than ever. He is well connected in the bureaucracy. but his company faces stricter KGB surveillance and curtailed foreign travel. The Bolshoi's ten-month season, which normally finishes in June, is being extended through Aug. 3 this year to ac commodatc Olympics visitors. To the in ternational audiences that will soon flock to the Bolshoi Theater. tbe company may still seem to be a marvel of Moscow. au in stitution that glories in lavish productions and virtuoso dancillg. But to dance buffs. the current season has been lackluster, re lying heaviJy on stock repertory and a dwindling pool of leading dancers. The most eagerly anticipated new production. Plisetskaya's The Sea Gull. which she per formed to music composed by her hus band, Rodion Shchedrin, evoked the at mosphere of Chekhov's play in stylized vignettes but contained Ii HIe real da nci ng. Particularly with Godunov gone. there is a shortage of IIp-and coming stars. Hence all eyes are on Gordeyev and his wife Pavlova -"Slava" and "Nadya," ~-~ as they are affectionately known-the young corn ets of the company. Gor deyev, 32, a Muscovite and a product of the Bol shoi's school. has been dancing with thecompa ny since 1969. Pavlova. 23. is an example of the Bolshoi's grow

ing need to reach out to regional Com

panies for new soloists. A former co-win

ner of the U.S.S.R.'s national dance

competition, she was recruited in 1975 from the ballet company in Perm. Five months later. on the same day that she made her debut in Giselle. she and Gor deyev were married. Gordeyev is an immaculate classical dancer. When he lea ps. he seems suspend ed in air. an illusion that never fails to ~hrjU audiences. He is also fiery enough to fill up a role like Spartaclis. Paviova is soft and romantic next to his virility. more an ingenue than a dramatic performer. But she cuts the air with quicksilver leaps and pirouettes, and her precision and con trol. especially in adagio movements, can be breathtaking. So far the pair appear to be basking in Grigorovich's good graces. as well as enjoying the blessing ofPlisetskaya. Ded icated and rather conservative, they re main apart from the controversies raging within the com pany, Says Gordeyev: "Our lives, after all . revolve around the ballet. our art." It will be a good thing for the Bol shoi if they. and dancers like them, can keepitthalway, • TIME. J UNE 23.1980

ince the 17th Century, the Kings and cicizens of Spain have enjoyed the first quality wines from the 10nes family vineyards in Vi!a[ranca del Penedcs, near Barcelona. Spain. Exponed since 1870. Torres wines are now shipped to 83 different countries. Don Migucl\r. is the fifth Torreo generation (0 carryon the family wine-making tradition. Their tradition of excellence will be appreciated by those who enjoy good wines. APPELLATION OF ORIGIN PENEDEs Torres wines come [rom (he Penedeo region of Catalonia which ha the strictest wine·making controls in Spain. This appellation a~ures you tbat 10nes wines are truly the nobility of .:Ill Spanish wines.

agogy in Moscow. defends the standard ized curriculum as "one way toward the equalization of our society. " In theory at least, Soviet schools avoid grouping pupils by ability. Says Malkova: "We are in principle against the JQ the ory. We consider that e"'cry healthy child is capable of effectively mastering the school program." Even so, a few gifted or privileged students are selected for spe cial schools.

U . ' - hile public schools in the U.S. have

I' "

Neat and attentive children listen to their teacher in a Siberian elementary school

Why Ivan and Tanya Can Read Six days a week: drill, drill and still more drill

. t General Education School 402, in the Perovsky district A. ( ofNo.eastern Moscow. 30 fourth-

The pattern of School No. 402-day book, drill and the use of specialized sub ject-matter instruction as early as the grade pupils rise to their fect when their fourth grade-is repeated in 147.000 teacher enters. Respectfully. they address "general education" schools across the him as Alexei Grigoryevich. using bis first U.S.S.R. Soviet children go LO school six name and paLronymic. The pupils. who days each week, typically from 8:30 a.m. wear uniforms (brown frocks and orange to 1:30 p.m. The required curriculum gen neckerchiefs for girls, blue jackets with erally runs through tenth grade and cov shoulder Labs for boys). remain standing ers about the same amount of schooling WI til their presence is ac that U.S. students get attend ing five days a week from kin knowledged by the teacher, a short. bald man in his 50s. dergarten tluough twelfth Then he turns brusquely to grade. City schools are bet business. ter than rural schools. but "What do the words !uf most Soviet students study bol, sfadioll and patrioE have the same standard curricu hlJn. Usually there is only one in commonT' he asks. Hands shoot up across the class current textbook authorized room, but the pupils are si for each major subject. though Lhe 15 republics of the lent, and there is no squirm ing to catch the teacher's Soviet Union are allowed to attention. Alexei Grigorye have special courses in the history and geography of vich points to a girl in the their regions. third row, who rises to ex The curriculum is stiff plain that all these words are of foreign origin . The teacher Vocationalstudentatwori< and compulsory. On the aver age, two mathematics courses draws back a c\-lrtain cover ing part of the blackboard. disclosing a are required in each grade (including chart ofverbs. Asked to explain where the hea vy doses of geometry and algebra. plus accent falls in various verb forms, students a year or two of calculus in the final respond by reciting grammatical rules. In grades). And 5;1, years of biology. five variably, they answer in complete sen years each of physics and geography. four tences. Each pupil is graded 011 h is perfor years of chemistry, one year of astronomy. mance in a daybook, a running report that ten years of shop and mechanical drawing is sent home to be initialed by his parents and up to seven years of fon:ign language at the end of every week. The daybook (most frequently English and French). keeps track of misbehavior with notes Apart from languages, the humanities are such as "Created a disturbance in the largely taken up with the detailed study of gym" or "AHived five minutes late for Marxism-Leninism. Zoya Malkova, the physical culture." director of the Institute for General Ped 62

swung from open classrooms to back -to-basics during tbe past two decades. the Soviets. like Europeans gen eral.!y. have kept fairly steadily to tradi tional teaching methods. Says Malkova: .. [n the U.S .. you ha ve a tendency to do things in extreme-so first one direction. then another. We never had this prob lem . We are concerned. though. about try ing to encourage reasoning about prob lems rather than rote memorization. A central task of contemporary Soviet ped agogy has been just how to develop in dependent lhinking.·· Pupil independence, however. plays second balalaika to the pressure for top marks on the nationwide exams at the end of the eighth grade. which decide the careers of pupils. Top scorers are bound for higher education as scientists. engi neers. teachers and economists. The mid dle-ranked enter fow'-year schools for technicians. Those at the bottom get vo cational training and jobs on the assem bly Line or i]1 sma.II workshops. in the U.S" 54% of high school seniors go on to some sort of higher educalion, compared with roughly 20% in the Soviet Union. The drill and discipline do risk mak ing Ivan a dull boy. In Stalin's time, a ped agogical textbook defined initiaTive as '·the search for the best way to fulfil.! an order. ·' Today initiative is given more en couragement-but not all that much more. Especially in such humanistic sub jecr.s as literature and history, the empha sis on ideology Jeaves lillie room for per sonal interpretation. Recalls Vita Kronik. 42. a Moscow-born academic who emi grated to Detroit in 1976: "If a student is asked to write a composition describing an anticapitalistic heroofa novel. he must underline the political tendency of this hero. not the humanity or the values of this character." But iJJ science and engineering, the Soviet system does increasingly well. In a report for the National Science Founda tion last December, Ma.lhematics Profes sor Tzaak Wirszup of the University of Chicago, an expert on Soviet scientific ed ucation. concluded that the Soviets. through "an educational mobilization of the entire population." had far out stripped the U.S. in the quality of scien tific and mathematical education at el emelllary and secondalY levels. Wirszup based his conclusions on a TIM E. JU NE 23 , 1980

r (

e o g

--____----.....r---------------,....

r---------~==~

____

r=~==~~~~~

study of Soviet sch ool texts and educa tional magazines. The Soviet mathematics program he found "modern in contenL in novative in approach. well integrated an d highly sophisticated." Most remarkable to Wirszup were magazines aimed at stu dents. One, an illustrated monthly on math and science for ninth- and tenth graders, called U1IiTechnic Journal, had a circulation of 1.6 million. Among the con tents: a serious mathematical article thal discussed Einstein's equations and anoth er thaI presented a complex analysis of the aLOm and nuclear power. As Wirszup notes, the periodical is more colorful and clearly written than similar materials available even to advanced high school students ill the U.S. While Soviet schoolchildren are now taught algebra. geometry and some cal culus, Wirszup points out that even col lege-bound U .S. high schoolers usually manage only eight years of arithmetic. one or two of algebra and two or three , of science, He estimates that in 1978 and '79 more than 5 million Soviet high school students took advanced calculus. com pared with 105,000 U .S. students at the secondary level. Significal1tly. Wirs7up found that more than 56% of U.S. school districts reporting to the National Sci ence Foundation ill 1977 required only one or no math course for high school graduation .

TI ME. JU:-tE 23.1980

__ ____________ ~

Osman Conteh: Hungry, hopeless and confused. Family exists on 53 a month - too little for proper nutrition or shelter. Suffer from constant stomach infections. Dare not hope lor a better life.

' T

he Soviet Union insists on very close lies betwecn parents and schools. First-grade leachers are required to vjsitthe homes of entering pu pils during tbe first eight weeks of school. And schools seek out neighborhood adults to serve as counselors for after-school ac tivities: model building. rocketry. dancing instruction. chess clubs. Wi lliam Green. 24. a U.S. citizen and a graduate student at the University of Southern California. went to a Soviet middle school for two years while his father was stationed in Moscow as a U.S. Foreign Service offi cer. Grcen recalls that his parents were re quired to attend a special classroom ses sion with his teacher at least four times a year: "Parents would sit at students' desks. a nd the teacher would lay il on the line. H would be very explicit criticism. like 'Your child isn 'l working hard enough' or 'We don't think you' re encouraging this or that development.' ., If parents faillo respond. school officials may notify the parents' supervisors at work. who ill turn strenuously urgc employees to do a better job of child rearing. Many Soviet emigres --no friends of Communism- vigorously defend Soviet education for its seriousness and rigor. if not its ideology. As Emigre Emi IDrailser, 42, currently a teaching feJ low in the department of Slavic languages a t {j.e.L.A. , puts it,"-Frankly. I am in this country just five years. and I see no harm in [the Soviet approachJ ." Drailser faults the leniency and lack of seriousness of American education . Says he: " This is ri diculous. If a man SLOpS school in the So viet Union after eighth grade. at least he knows something" •

-~~==~~--~--~

Osman is o nlv Ihe veal's old - but his fac e is [hat ot' a wis~ old man . Povcrty has made him ,vi se bcvond hi s v ears .. . not tn the beaut 'i or Ide. and its' promi se. but to the cold re a l ities of bein g poor. Osman knows what it's li ke to be hungry each day. I-Ie knows the emptiness of playing alo ue . with no toys. Yet he doc.,n·t re a l ize that there is another way of life - that . ome whcre in

the 'world little b oy~ of fi ve live happy. carefree and untroubled lives. But there is. lill hope for litile Osman. With the help of someone here in Canada, he could be2:in to share in the innoc.:ncc and jovs -of childhood. Aillhis and more :ould be posible - - if onl y so meone. some where. wo uld care eno ugh . By beco ming. a FOSler Pare nt. you can help a ncedy child o verseas gain contro l o ve r his life . Your small monthly contribution w ill provide hetl er food. clotbin a.. she lter and me d.ic nl care. Education will be made av ai lable to a ll famil y Jllelllher~. and development projects stich as th e huilding of school s and medi cal clinics will he lp mo ve the wh ole cOJllmunity towa rds self- s ullici e ncy. By no w, O sman will probably h-ave hi s Foster Parent. 11m so ver\, lllall Y child re n arc still waiting to be 11 'Iped -- wh y don' t you take a child's future in vour hands .:... it could he th e most rcwa~ding th ing vou've e ve r don e. Pl ease, fill out the coupon be low, or call our toll-free num ber.

CAll TOLL FREE ANYTIME 1-(800)-268-7174

Itttrl :J

f!'

Information will be sent immediately

~ II :~S~~:: ~~:;~:~ ~::N~OO~N:~~~~~

I want to be a Foster Parent 01 a boy 0 grrt Cl age _____--,= country or where the need is greatest 0 I enclose my first payment of $19.00 Monthly 0 $57.00 Quarterly 0 $114.00 Semi-Ann ually 0 S22 8.00 Annually 0 I can't become a Foster Parent right now, however I enclose my contribution of $ Please send me more inlormation 0 Te l. No. ____ _ _ _ _ Name ___ _______ _ _ _ ________ _ _ _ ____ _ ____ ___ Address City

__ Proll

COde ____ __

I wish communication with PLAN to be in En glish 0 French 0 PLAN operates in Bolivra , Colombia . Ecuador, EI Salvador, Guatemala. Haiti. Honduras, Indonesra, Mali. Nepal, Nicaragua. Peru , the Philippines, Sierra Leone, 1he Sudan and Upper Volta. Foster Parents Plan 01 Canada is officially registered as a Canadian Charitable Organiza tion by the Federal Government. Contribulions are tax deductible. 4 / 23179

TN 28 62 ,1 0

-----------._-_ .. _- .. ----------------_._._---------63

poses hung in museums. offices. factories and homes everywhere. A r the same time. in the '30s and '405. Stalin llsed every kind of coercion to apply rhe Soc ialist -Real ism doctrine. destroying the avant-garde modernism is anathema a nd rhe contacts with Western artists that culture to aeate its models of dissent. it needed . By 1953. when Stali.n died. no This deep hostility to modernism. a Soviet artist could sec. except ill the most fragmentary way . any modernist an at permanent legacy of Stalln . seems espe ciaJly ironic to Western eyes because it all: the work of the constructivists. that was in Russia, between 1910 and 1925. heritage of Russian intellect and radical [hat one of the great experimenrs of mod- enthusiasm. was invisible . "Sucialist Realism is the only meth ern an was carried ouL The leaders of the avant-garde, among them Kasimir od of our art." wrote one of the sUJviving Malevich. Naum Gabo. Vladimir Tatlin. hacks in 1954. "Any other method is a Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissi tz.ky . concession to bomgeois ideology. In our wanted [0 serve the new power of the left country. where socialism has been victo by combining revolurionary art with rev- rious. where there has arisen a moral and SOVfO'. political unily of the people unprec edented in the history of mankind. there is no special basis for different directions in art." Thus the lid clamped clown. and it has remained down ever since. condensing the bland . dull. obsequious and piously idealistic nature of official " realism."

Socialist Realism's Legacy As much as in the '3 Os and '40s, couple of dozen Soviet painters O. acarried their canvases into a patch ~

ne wet Sunday in September 1974.

of wasteland in Cheremushki. an out lying district of Moscow, and began to set them up on makeshW stands. A small crowd of onlookers gathered . and so. to one side, did a platoon of KGB agents

with bulldozers. dump trucks and water

cannon. The secret policemen were dis

guised as civjJians doing volunteer work

on the abandoned site. As the specta

tors peered at the paintings and a few Western reporters clicked their

cameras. the agents a[[acked, fling

ing the canvases into rubbish trucks.

Then the bulldozers and water can

non moved in . grinding over falJen

works and chasi.ng the drenched an

ists from the site.

Within 40 minutes the ballle was over. Eighteen paintings had been mutilated and burned: four painters were under arrest. The infectious spores of bourgeois formalism . car ried by Jews and other rootle-ss cos mopolitans, had been sanitized: the integrity of the official style of So cialist Realism stood vindicated. Provincial by Western standards. the artists whose work was vandal il.ed by the state at Cheremushki may not have been ofhjgh interest. outside the U.S.S.R .. to a historian of style: it was as though the New York City po lice had been sent to crush one of the weekend art shows at Washington Square. Yet the meaning of the event lay not in the meriL<; of this "dissi dent" art as art. but in its power to provoke repression simply by exist ing. Of aU the major Occidental pow ers, only the U.S.S.R. treats art as though it were politically dangerous. By doing so. it ensures that art does matter politically. So a cycle of self Alexa nder Gerasimov' s Marshal Joseph Stalin (1944) fulfilling repre.ssion continues. In the West, artists succeed or fail Sill is abstraCTio1l, virme is blalld. piolls idealism . in the marketplace. There is no of ficial line on art. in any useful sense of olutionary politics. Russian constructiv the term. But in the U .S.S.R .. art must ism was, in fact. the only heroic modern toe the ideological line. If dissident ist style that drew its strength from the -which generally means "modernist" revolutionary impetus. Yet its sin was in - artists are not persecuted as systemat being abstract. and for (hat it was con ically as dissident writers. and fewer of signed to darkness by Stalin and his cul them actually end up laying rails in Si tural a.pparatchi.ks after 1929. beria or being shot full of drugs in KGD According [Q the dogma of Socialist madhouses. this merely reflects the fact Realism. all an and literature must con thaI art is not as forceful a channel for form to the triple standard of parrinost maverick ideas as Literature. Neverthe (party character). ideinosr (socialist con less. state approvaJ governs every aspect lent) and /larodnosl (closeness to the peo of rhe production . exhibition. sale and dis ple). For Stalin . this ideal was most faith cussion of painting and sculpture. The es fully reflected in the work of his favorite se nce of totalitarianism is that there must painter. Alexander Gerasimov. whose be no gaps in (he monoli th. nowhere for portraits of the dictator in various noble 64

oelay lhe most powerful state

against the dissident T weapon paiJ1ler who cannot or will not join the Union of Soviet Artists-a closed Socialist Realist shop- is the law on tlllleyac/stl'O tparasitism). An unemployed artist (and all nonun.ion membe rs are. by definition. unem ployed) ca.n be punished with one to two years of prison . Apart from this. the "unofficial" artist must deal with a hundred resismnces unknown to hjs Western counterpart . Whcre can a sculptor find bronze. steel or plaster ..... irhout union approv a l? How can a painter get access to studio space. even paints and can vas? How and where can the work be exhibited·.' Hov.· can 3Jlyone hear about it except by word of mouth. SiJ1Ce all art writing in magazines like IskllSS1VO (An) or Sovie/sk(lYu KIII

is a direct emanation of union views. themselves determi11ed by the M inistry of Culture) Most unofficial Soviet art is ear nestly provincial. dotted with quota tions from Western modernist styles -abst raet ex pressionisl11. Pop. III i n ima 1 ism- which cannot be assimilated prop erly because of the scarciry ofinformation : one copy of a Western art magazine. a f feelS painters mon:. in this samizrl(// at mosphere.. than do five m.useum shows in Manhattan. But the surprise is ihat such art exists at all. The dissident artist must expend so much enc.rgy on survival that he has less Jeft for self-development. There is still no room for hi m in a socie ty whose art has one purpose: to reinforce the narcissism of slate power. under the guise of edm:ation . And the biller moral dignity of his predicament callnot be much comfort. - RobertHughes Illra

TIME . J U NE .23 1980

talism. the belief that everyone has his reasons- that permeates the best "ap proved ' Soviet films. and perhaps the spirit of the men and women who make Film makers must edify as well as entertain them as well. In the Soviet system. ev eryone has his function . Some people inema is for us the most impor

make films (about 150 features a year tant of the arts," declared Lenin

from the three major and 20 regional stu in 1922, and not since Pope Julius

dios) . Some people "edit" them (there are ii commissioned Michelangelo to paint

often three censors assigned to a produc the Sistine Chapel ceiling had the proc

tion). Some people exbibit them (though lamation of a chief of state resulted in

theater managers. who have admissions such a sunburst of high art. A troika of

quotas to meet, frequently pair Soviet young film maker- theoreticians-Sergei

films with livelier fare from abroad) . And Eisenstein. V.I. Pudovkin and Alexander

some people go to see them (80 million Dovzhenko-seized the movie LOy and re

made it into a sophisticated machine that

tickets were sold every week in 1977. at an average cost of 501t each). dazzled the world intelligentsia, even as

The Soviet public may get to see only it instructed the Russian proletariat. As

long as the party hierarchy was amused

bland or self-critical films from the West, too. all was well. But in ! 924 Sta.lin re

but the elite are permitted to study the phrased the famous dictum, and his di

works ofieading film makers from all na aphanous threat holds to this day: "The

tions. As a result, the best Soviet movies. whatever their content. have c.inema is the greatest means of mass agitation. Our prob the look and feel of the best European films. lem is to take this matter into There are directors who, our own hands." if they worked elsewhere, There the matter has would surely have achieved rested for the past half a cen in tern a tional recognition. tury . and the hands of the So Among them is Georgj Da viet film industry's "editors" neliya, who made the appeal (censors) can be heavy in ing, comic Autumn Mararhon deed. The t.wo men who by (1979). It is about a teacher international critical consen translator trying to balance sus are the heirs of Soviet fi.lm the requirements of his over greatness- Andrei Tarko,, extended double career with sky and Sergei Paradjano.... the equally pressing demands -have been harassed, ca of a suspicious wife and a pos joled and officially criticized. ~ sessive mistress-a situation Tarkovsky. best known for familiar to members of the the chilling sci-fi parable Western bourgeoisie. The So/aris (1972), recently was movie offers an agreeable in named "People's Artist of sight into the life of the ed the U.S.S.R.," but the film uca(ed. privileged class in the bureaucracy has refused to Soviet Union. fund some of his projects, Daneliya is working safe delayed the re·lease of others terrain here: the romantic or exhibited them for only a comedy. There. are other few weeks in out-of-the-way Whit e hats and Red ideals: Yetena Sotovey In Mikhalkov's Slaye 01 Love comfortable places for a So theaters. Paradjanov aston viet director to work-screen adaptations ished Western film buffs with the extra v of classic novels and plays. for example. agantlyricism of his Shadows of Our For Pictures that show the suffering and stead gOTten Ancesrors (J 964), but the state saw fastness of ordinary citizens during World him as a troublemaker and sent him to War II also win the approval ofthe editors prison- for almost four years. - and of the public. As the Revolution of Paradjanov's more cautious col 1917- which provided the first Soviet film leagues have referred to him as "kind of makers with their great subject-recede.s mad." It may be equally delirious fo r in memory , World War II has replaced Westerners to demand of today's Soviet it in the country's hagiography. film makers that they bring to their craft (he passionate recklessness of their pre Nikolai Gubenko's The Orphans (1978) takes place in a state orphanage decessors. Revolutionary fervor, like first love, passes quickly; in the long run. any right after the war. Hthe institution's staff is seen as rather too noble, the problems marriage of art and the state demands of the children- ranging from withdrawal fidelity and fealty. Official Soviet cinema is settling into middle age with all the vir to rebelliousness-are sensitively por tues of a Chekhovian "good wife": it is trayed. It is a strong and absorbing work. handsome, thoughtful, often charming So is the somewhat ungainJy but po and , above all, disc.reet about the mas etic Siberiada (1979), directed by Andrei ter's excesses and failings. Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky. The Soviets It is precisely this Chekhovian quality have lost neither their taste for, nor their -the rueful romanticism, the generous fa- A scene from Gubenko's The Orphans skilJ with. the epichistoricai drama. Si-

Movies for the Masses

TIME, JUNE23. 1980

--------------------------------~--~---------~,

caught up in the revolution. In Five Eve nings, Mikhalkov tells the story of a mid- . dle-aged man and woman trying to pick

up the threads of a romance they were

forced to sever during World War II. And

in his latest film, Oblomov, he tackles the

. elusive, lethargic hero of Ivan Goncha

rov's 19th century masterwork. Mikhalkov, who recently returned to the U.S.S.R. from a trip to the U.S., sees similarities between the best films of both countries. Says he: "It seems to me that the time has come to return to a type of ro manticism-to Chaplin, to films that give people some hoper-Breaking Away, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, Nashville, Paper Moon." But as a Soviet film mak

A wedding In Sergei Parad,lanov's ShM/oW$ ofOurForgottenAncestors

A marriage ofan and the state demands./idelity al/dfealty. beriada traces the history ofan obscure Si

berian village from snowbound primitiv ism and isolation at the beginning of this century through war and revolution, to the discovery of a great oilfield in the late '60s. Like Dovzhenko before him, Mikhal kov-Konchalovsky has a way of linking a peculiarly Russian feeling for the sa credness of native ground with the de veloping force of the revolution.

Most-favored-director status goes to Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky's brother Ni kita. Mikhalkov, 34. His Slave of Love was one of the few recent Soviet films to re ceive critical acclaim and a measure of box office success when it was released i.n the U.S. last year. A touching, gently comic portrait of a movie company on lo cation in 1917, Slave of Love shows a group of innocents trying to avoid being

er, is he not asked to make cuts in his mov ies to satisfy the cultural bureaucrats? Mi khalkov shrugs his shoulders. "Of course, that's only natural,' he replies. "Whoever pays can call the tune. Here i! ~s from Goskino [the centralized film bureaucra cy]; in America it would be the producer. But as far as I am personally concerned, if I have to be financially dependent, I would prefer that I not be dependent on one or two producers but on what is called the fatherland . I just try to do my job as honestly as possible." The question is whether "honesty" and "fatherland" are, in the U.S.S.R ., ir reconcilable enemies. Soviet film makers work under many ideological restraints

-some subtle. some blatant-that began with a five-year plan set down by Gosk ino. Like the production schedule of an oldtime Hollywood studio, the code calls for production funds to be divided among pictures in a variety of genres. But the genres in question touch on themes that only an apparatchik could love: tales of young workers and peasants heroically exceeding their quotas. ll scripts must be filtered through

an editor, who claims that his de A sire is merely to "clarify" the writ

er's aims. Says Mikhail Bogin, an emigre Soviet director: "The editor wonders, 'What can be learned from this film? How does it serve the Soviet people?' He'll probably begin to think, 'I'm afraid. I'm worried.' " He should be, for he will share the blame with the film's creators ifsome thing offends someone further up the line -a cultural bureaucrat in one of the re publics, or perhaps even the Central Committee in Moscow. Like Stalin before him, Brezhnev has been known to enter these debates. He once got a movie shel ved simply by inquiring after a screen ing, "Who needs it?" Usually, however, a film is welllaun dered before the party boss gets to play movie mogul. One director found himse·\f squabbling with censors when he made a comedy about corruption in the wine in dustry: in one scene a bad barrel was la beled "48," which happened to be pre-

Andrei Tarkovsky's sci-II parable Solari.

The look and feel ofthe West.

cisely the number ofyears that had pa.ssed since the revolution . Was he perhaps im plying that the revolution had gone sour too? Another film maker got into trouble when he included a song called Bring Me a Piece ofthe MoolI---<:luring the time that Americans had landed there and the Rus sians had not. Was he belittling the So viet space effort? Edward Topol, an emigre screenwriter. once tried to explain a picture about juvenile delinquency to a Soviet official, who said that in his trav els round the Soviet Union he had never

seen any youthful criminals, so how could they exist? Re-edited and reshot, a new version was permitted to go forth by KGB Boss Yuri Andropov. This hassling creates a climate of self censorship and an implicit demand to pretty-up reality. Says Topol: "If you just set up a camera anywhere in the Soviet Union and shoot life as it is, it looks ter rible. It jumps out at you from the screen." Yet the directors soldier on. Some search patiently for a historical or fantastical work that will not overstrain the censori ous mind. Still others find a style of shoot ing an approved scene that will change its meaning without altering a word of the preapproved script. A happy ending dark ly Lit will not, for example, play in quite the way the editors thought it would. For some directors, the endings are darkly lit. The first director assigned to Slave of Love was a wildly talented young Uzbek named Rustam Hamdamov, the hope of the Soviet film school, who seemed destined to drag this once proud na tional cinema back to glory. But ac· cording to a friend , when the editors saw Hamdamov's lyrical-surreal footage. they fired him and brought in Nikita Mi khalkov to reshoot the film. Hamdamov's an. it seems, no longer appears in state cinemas: it hangs on the walls and in the closets of private homes. At last re port, the U.S.S.R. 's most promising di rector was in Soviet Georgia, working as a painter and dress designer. •

The Children of Pavlov

Pills, pep talks. and outpatient clinics/or mental well-being IiiiPI he old building on Chekhov Street. pharmaceuticaJ industry is small and cau • I just off Moscow's Pushkin Square, was the town house of a wealthy man in prere.volutionary times. Now it is Psycho neurological Dispensary No. [4. one of the outpatient psychiatric clinics that deal with the day-to-day problems of the anxious. the alcoholic and the ser iously disturbed in the So viet Union. More than 200 patients

a day silently wander the

halls. beneath a sign that

reads REMEMBER . CON VER

stand his patient. but only up to a certain point. He doesn't have to turn his brains inside out in an effort to understand the patient fully ." The U.S.S.R . handles as many cases as it can by outpatient treatment. None theless. statistics gathered in Leningrad and Moscow indicate that I /So/c of the population is in mental hospitals at any given time, for an average stay of 60 days. The comparable U.S. figures are .8% and 30 days. Western visitors are generally impressed by the large num ber of staff members available. Says Dr. Gerald Klerman . the U.S. Alcohol. Drug Abuse and Men tal Health administrator: "There are a good many nonprofessionals feeding, walking and checkIng on pa tients. They use the hospital system as a way to keep down unemployment. and I think this results in a lot of tender lov ing ca re." Patients also are kept busy a t such tasks as gardening or cleaning thei r rooms, an approach that impresses U.S. visitors. When patients are released. their rec ords go to the local mental health cen ter, which follows up on the case wheth er the patient cooperates or not. That way. says Yale Psychiatrist Walter Reich. an expert in Soviet therapeutic methods. "no one suffers from neglect. but it is very difficult to get away from the sys tem. If you don 't want to be involved with the mental health service. once you are identified as a patient. you get fol lowed nonetheless."

tious. it is slow to put new drugs into pro duction. Soviet hospitals and dispensaries frequently treat schizophrenia with insu lin shock therapy. After an insulin injec tion cuts blood sugar and induces coma, the patien t is revived with glucose-a pro cedure repeated 20 or 30 times. For less serious ail men ts , the dispensaries have their own form of talk therapy . At No. 14. these take place in a large room lined with seven couches. beneath portraits of Pavlov SATIONS AMONG PATIENTS

and Freud . the contempo ABOUT YOUR DELIRIUMS

rary giants of modern psy ARE FORBIDDEN. In one

chology. Pointing to Freud. room [5 elderly women are

Dr. Passer smiles and says: putting together white ball

"See, we're not. so cIose point pens and costume

minded ." However. Freud jewelry; such work is re

ian analysis, unlike Pavlov's garded as therapy, but the

behaviorist ideas, has never pens and decorative chains

taken hold in t.he Soviet are sold to help the center

Union. although the Geor financially . A basement

giaH Academy of Sciences room decorated with film

recently sponsored a sym and travel posters is the Undergoing sleep t herapy posium on the concept of center's Sobriety Society -the Soviet equivalent of Alcoholics the unconscious. In the U.S.S.R .. talk Anonymous. There a young reformed therapy or "rational psychotherapy." is drunk is sanding wood for a remodeling mostly a series of admonishing lectures. The doctor listens to the patient. then tells program that will expand the society's fa here is a dark side to Soviet psy ciJities to include billiards and Ping Pong. him how he ought to behave. If the com chiatry: its m.isuse as a politi plaint is deemed too tri vial-anxiety . or Like community mental health cen cal weapon to punish dissidents. mild depression-a patient may be told ters in the U.S .. Soviet clinics mostly dis pense pills and pep talks. Some patients not to come back at all. Hypnosis is often in \970 Biologist Zhores Medvedev. who now lives in London. was committed to a at Dispensary No. 14 are expected to stay used by doctors to encourage healthier be the whole day; they come at 9 a.m .. are havior. like trying to get an alcoholic to psychiatric hospital . on the order of his city commune. He was released 19 days fed two free meals and released at 4 p.m. slop drinking. Says Dr. Vyacheslav Ko tov, chief doctor-psychiatrist for the cit y later, after a wave of international pro Psychiatrists, about 70% of them wom test. Medvedev had struck a deal with hos en, have a good deal of power in dealing of Moscow: "A psychiatrist should under with patients. They not only direct treat ment. but also help recuperating patients get jobs on the outside. and even track down citizens who fail to show for reg ular visi ts. Most staff psychiatrists at the dispen sary spend two hours after work each night making house calls. Particularly in the cities, the dispensaries double as so cial centers to give lonely and deprived people somewhere to go. Dr. Fira Passer, a short, energetic, middle-aged woman who runs the center, says that most Mus covites who come in are considered to be , borderline cases, that is. people in basi cally good mental health who are tem porarily having trouble coping with life. Says she: "They are afflicted with the problem of loneliness and the inability to find a partner or friend- ne·uroses con nected with life in a large city." Psychotropic drugs, such as chlorpro mazine and haloperidol, are the main Therapist Passer, at head of table, meeting with former alcoholics In dispensary form of treatment. Because the Soviet Blit there is a dark side to psychiatry too. especially for dissidents.

TIME. JUNE 23.1980

pital authorities that if discharged he would write nothing about his hospital ization or the struggle to get him out: when he learned that he would have to report regularly to mental health centers for fol low-up care, he and his brother, Histo rian Roy Medvedev. published their now classic study on Soviet political psychi atry. A QJiestion o/Madlless. The rise of political psychiatry in the Soviet Union has paralleled the rise of Dr. Andrei Snezhnevsky, who since 1962 has been director of the Insiitute of Psy chi-'ltry of the U.S.S.R . Academy of Med ical Sciences in Moscow. Snezhnevsky is the virtual czar of Soviet psychiatry. The standard Soviet t.heory is that schizophre nia is caused by environmental factors. But in the 1960s Snezhnevsky began pro moting his idea that the disease is genet ic. permanent and diagnosable even in the absence of such classic symptoms as hal lucinations and delusions.

Sexual Equality-More or Less Frustrated wives, lazy husbands and signs a/change arx proclaimed it. Lenjn insisted on it . and the Soviet. constitution guarantees it: equality of the sex es. including comparable pay for compa rable work. Some of the statistics are im pressive: most of the doctors. three quarters of the teachers and one-lhjrd of the engineers are women. So are half of a ll university and institute students and nearly 60 C/o of those with techllical or vo cational tminillg in high school or beyond. Still. Soviet women are second-class comrades. Top jobs have a way of going

ne of his most controversial con

involves what he calls O cepts "creeping" or "sluggish" schizo phrenia, which is said to show itself early in difficulties with parents and authority figures. and with stubborn "reformist tendencies. " In Snezhnevsky's view, many people experience nervous breakdowns as chil dren or adolescents, and think they re cover completely. But their SChizophrenia remains latent and can blossom 20 or 30 years later-often in the form of po litical dissidence. ExiJed Writer Vladimir Bukovsky, now at Cambridge University. notes: ''This means nobody knows wheth er he is schizophrenic or not unless Pro fessor Snezh.nevsky diagnoses it." That theory has proved convenient to the KGB. particularly since Soviet law allows for compulsory commitment by the courts when the accused has been classified as mentally ill. Indeed. the proceeding may be held without the dissident because he is considered too sick to attend. Thus, as Reich says, "dissenting views are pronounced the sick products of sick minds." Roughly 1.000 dissidents have been misdiagnosed as latent or active schizo phrenics and confined to mental institu tions. After the World Psychiatric Asso ciation condemned the Soviet Union's psychiatry in 1977 for its political abuses, many Western doctors believed that the Kremlin would find less embarrassing ways of dealing with dissenters. They were apparently wrong. Amnesty Illler national reports that incarceration of po litical dissenters as mental patients is just as prevalent as ever in the Soviet Union, and may even be increasing. The politicization of psych.iatry has in fact produced a kind of schizophrenia of the profession itself. As Bukovsky points out: "It is not easy for the or dinary person to get admiited for treat ment in a psychiatric hospital. For a political case, though, it is very easy. They are taken to a hospital without mak ing any request." _ TIME, JUNE 23.1980

The rhetoric of women's lib may be little known in the U .S.S.R., but the bat tle of the sexes seems to be heating up. One recent underground feminist publi cation issued by bitler women in Lenin grad attacked the typical Soviet husband as a brutal, drunken. selfish lout. The doc ument charged that " the male contribu tion ill the home is almost nonexistent. Any man who even knows how to ham mer a nail is considered a rarity." The point is well taken. A Soviet sur vey showing tha.t while women were spending hours in long shopping Lines, ar guing with bureaucratic clerks and doing household chores without the benefit of a bevy of modern appliances, husbands were lazily watching TV. reading news papers, tippling with their cronies or oth erwise being idle. They are not very good lovers either. Many a Soviet male has never seen his wife naked, and creative lovemaking is not high on the husband's list of living pri orities. Ignorance is partly to blame, and some of that is being overcome by West ern influe·nces. One Moscow woman says her ·'naive. inexperienced husband" has been performing heroically since she showed hjm a smuggled copy of The Joy 0/ Sex. A slowly improving standard of liv ing has had an impact too. Many couples who once made love under the covers in an apartment crowded with relatives now have their own apartments and are more relaxed about sex. Says one such wife: " Now I feel freer to tell my husband what gives me pleasure and what doesn·t." ome Soviet commentators have

that many of the typical S suggested husband's attitudes-which are

Female roadsweepers on the job

to men. In medicine. a profession with much less prestige in the Soviet Union than in the West. virtually all the elite sur geons and administrators are male. Math ematics and the sciences are masculine preserves. Though a third of the Supreme Soviet and 25 % of Communist Party members are women. none occupy posi tions of real power. including membership in the Politburo. Even in what are con sidered traditionally female professions -education. health. post office. telephone and telegraph operations. and shopkeep ing-the majority of managers and de cision makers are men. As Nikita Khru shchev once admitted to an agricultural conference. ,·It turns out that it is men who do the administrating and women who do the work."

not exactly unknown in the West-are signs of disguised aggressiveness. In ef fect , the man is saying. "You're so free and capable. why don't you handle the chores for both of us?" Nonetheless. re ports Victor Perevedentsev. a specialist on socioeconomic affairs in Moscow. the So viet family is slowly changing from a pa triarchy into a "biarchy"-equality in the home. Says he: "Women are rebelling, and they. of course, are correct in doing so." The real irritant, though. is [hat the frustrated Soviet woman fac·es inequality both at home and at work, yet must shoul der the responsibilities of both . On the one band. a dreary full-time job; on the other, the problems of raising kids and keeping her marriage together. That is in creasingly hard to do: divorce is rising rap idly. and one marriage in three now fails. The state gives women some help in the form of child care and maternity leaves. but that is hardly enough to ease their dual burdens. One solution being advo cated by an increasing number of women: part-time jobs, and plenty of them, to lighten the load and allow a little more breathing space for self-development. _ 69

bl,

lh lh

in,

Ul1 \..

~'Y

ou can cover the whole world with asphalt, but a few blades of green grass will always break through," concluded Soviet Novelist I1ya Ehren burg, as the Stalin era faded. And still they come: surprising new writers who have shattered the deadening conven tions of the past. They have recoiled from the novel, viewing it as prefabricated Stalin ist architecture. The genre of choice is the short story or novella. Many writers have managed gradually to escape from Social is{ Realism, with its obligatory jargon and hortatory themes, traveling a world a.way - back to 19th century realism. Even Boris Pasternak and Alexander Solzhe nitsyn, the two major Russian writers t.o produce big novels, did so in the classical manner. Of all the short story writers to emerge since Stalin's death, Vasili Aksyonov, 47 , continues to display the greatest virtuos ity. Although he has written enormously popular stories in a realist vein. Aksyo nov has gone on to explore a variety of modes and permutations of language, en tering the I 980s as the Soviet Union's only truly modern prose writer. His evolution is instructive. Aksyonov's first fiction dealt with a previously unheard-of theme: the real life of Soviet teen-agers. In his 1961 novella Starry Ticket, for example, a group of Muscovite dropouts run away to the Baltic beaches to escape the crushing conservatism of their elders. Old guard critics were scandalized. as much by the "uncivic" behavior of Ak syonov's heroes and heroines as by their use of colloquial speech, mixed with un derworld and concentration-camp slang, invented words and such Americanisms as glldbai, Brodvei and bugi-vugi. Funny. fresh and richly expressive, Aksyonov's idiom has been his contribution to the larger effort of modern Russ'ian poets to rescue the Russian language from dead emng officialese. Much of Aksyonov's fiction has a dark and enigmatic cast that i.s the shad ow of the Gulag. Like many other con temporary Soviet writers. he is the child of Stalin's victims: Aksyonov was brought up in one of the infamous orphanages called Homes for the Children of En emies of the People. Few writers can re produce the lingering stench of brutality and fear better than he. Ln his story Vic tory. a gem of Russian short fiction , a chance game of chess on a train be tween a brutish but canny player and an intellectual becomes a moral life and death struggle. The Steel Bird, which was published last year in the U.S.. marks Aksyonov's break with realism in favor of the gro tesque. This novella features a ghastly 70

un el Iu

an M

sia gn

en off au: era ex

ali: of

an \. e

fie: pa

clif bet

Fazillskander

ValentIn Rasputin

TllOlljfilthey es(~(iped from Socialist Realism the hounds keep biting attlieir heels.

Excerpt He came to see me and complained about his appetite. His stomach ac tually was swollen and covered with blue lines. My appetite has dis appeared, he said. Then take the matter to the police, I advised boldly. What " about the digestion tract. he asked . Some rivets in the gut really had worked loose, there were bolts rattling around . and some welded seams had come apart. When all's said and done I'm no engineer and we're not Living in some science fic tion novel. but in ordinary Soviet reality, I announced to him and washed my hands of it. Very well. Doctor Zeldovich, you'll end up in here. he said and slapped his swollen belly. I opened the window and suggested he vacate the flat. He flew out of the window. His flight was heavy, sometimes he would faU, like a plane in air pockets, but then he would suddenly soar and disappear. Of course I realize I'll have to pay for my boldness. but the prospect of ending up in his stomach. in that steel bag, I tell you straight, r don 't relish in the" least. TIM E. JUNE 23. 1980

humanoid with a metal carapace who blackmails the superintendent of an a partment house into letting him live in the elevator. Acting with Stalinist guile. the steel bird takes over the entire build ing and its tenants. The structure soon collapses; the creature is left to roost tri umphantly atop the elevator shaft, sur veying the debris. This aUegory of dictatorship sea.rcely endeared Aksyonov to Soviet authorities. Much of his recent work has been deemed unacceptable, including The Burn, a nov el that will be pubUshed in Russian in July by Ardis Press in Ann Arbor, Mich.. and in English next year by Houghton Mifflin. A masterwork of modern Rus sian literature. The Burn offers an en grossing view of the life of party officials and literary bureaucrats in the Brezhnev era. Aksyonov. who has been under heavy official pressure to leave the U.S.S.R .. ought to be in the U.S. in time Lo help his translator render 230,000 words of racy experimental prose. The reigning Soviet master of re alism. Yuri Trifonov. 54. is also a child of the Gulag. Among his first writings is a biographical work about his father, Valentin Trifonov an old comrade of Stalin's whom the dictator ordered shot in the late I 930s. Trifonov's forte is the noveUa evoking the mean-spiritedness and venality afflicting much of the So viet urban middle class, Trifonov's sto ries turn on moral choice-seemingly paltry everyday decisions that make the difference between a life of decency or betrayal of self, family and friends.

Open wide and sayahhh.

Simmons Hide-A-Bed" Convertible Sofa. It's such a

great looking sofa, no one except yourself will know it's also

a terrific bed, There are lots of sofa beds for sale. But

why not choose the leading name? A Hide-A-Bed sofa made

only by Simmons. For the best in seating and the best

in sleeping. Simmons Hide-A-Bed Convertible Sofa. You can

own one at a price that won't make you toss and turn,

Hide-A-Bed Sofa by S~~~

rifanov's most important recent work is his novella The HOllse on the Embankment, which deals with the ultimate Soviet dilemma: whether or not to turn in a fellow creature to the se cret police. The book explores the pro cess by which a student comes to de nounce the teacher who is also his benefactor and prospective father-in-law, all the while justifying his actions as per fectly reasonable. A dramatization of the novel was cut by censors, who removed unflattering references to Scalin before al lowing the play to open. In spite of these deletions, Trifonov's powerful theme riv eted audiences when the play opened in Moscow Last month. A different strain of realism is rep resented by tbe derevenshchiki (village writers), who celebrate Russia's tradition al rural values and lament the woes of the peasantry. The most promising de revenshcJtik is a Siberian writer. Valentin Rasputin. 43, author of numerous stories and small-scale novels. including Live and Remember, published in tbe U .S. in 1978. Live and Remember is an unsentimental yet compassionate depiction of a peasant couple; a World War II deserter on the run and his wife, one of the strong, suf fering women who have remained the queens of Russian literature. These works have not appeared in print without a struggle. Many remained in limbo for years until cuts and revisions TIME. JUNE 23.1980

were made to fit political demands. Books by such established writers as Andrei Bi

tov and Fazil Iskander have been dis

membered or suppressed altogether. Only

odds and ends of Bitov's novel. Pushkin HOllse. have appeared in various Soviet magazines. The full text of this elegant portrayal of a Leningrad literary family is only available from Ardis Press, PUb- / Usher of Iskander's wonderfully funny , cycle of stories, Sandro from Chegem.

Pop Fiction Lives

Loca ted in the heart of our Capital, the gracious Lord Elgin is a stone's throw away from the city's action ... • 355 newly redecorated rooms and suites • free indoor parking • Paxton's... our bright new restaurant and Andrew's Uskey Houff

At less than you think Just compare these room rates ...

Singles from $30

Doubles from $34

Call your Travel Agent or

Reserve Toll-Free:

Ottawa 235-3333

Elsewhere in Canada

1-800-267-4298

~~~gw~ Elgin Blvd . at Laurier Ave. Ottawa, Canada

, ooks for the masses are pub lished in huge numbers in the U.S.S.R., but they are not al

ways the uplifting tracts that Marx and Lenin envisioned as the people's lit erature. New police and spy thrillers

and science fiction are snapped up by

fans on publication day. The country's top mystery writer is currently JuHan Semyonov, 48, whose latest, Tass Is AlI1horized to Stale . ... was published in an edition numbering 100,000 cop ies. It is the stirring tale of intrepid KGB agents vs. the CIA in an unnamed African country-manifestlY Angola.

Because pubHshers base the size of printings on political, ideological and

other noncommercial considerations,

Soviet bestsellers cannot be reckoned

by Western standards. Even when books sell out they are rarely reprint

ed because of the arbitrary mechanics

of the system. The real gauge of a

work's popularity is how much it is ul

timately wort.h on the flourishing black

market. An example is Heavy Sal/d.

by the popular adventure and mystery writer Anatol i Rybakov. Despite the

large printing (150,000). readers could

not get enough of this bathetic story

of love and death among Jews in the

Ukraine during World War II: copie.s now fetch $1 SO on the black market.

Some hugely successful novels have spawned a curious mass-market

samizdat that differs sharply from the

writings of dissidents. The newest un

derground rut is Ar the Last Frontier,

a trashy historical novel by Valentin

Pikul about Grigori Rasputin. the sexy,

self-styled holy man who held the Rus

sian imperial fam ily in thrall. Origi

nally published in the magazine Our

C01l1emporary, which has a circulation

of 300,000. the novel caused a sensa

tion as much for its scenes of debauch

ery as for its virulent ant.i-Semitism.

Unfavorable reviews. which criticized

the book for its non-Marxist attitudes

and hostile treatment of Jews, merely

piqued readers' interest. Not only are

black market second-hand copies of

Our Contemporary selling at $1 SO, but

typewritten copies of a. longer, unex

purgated text of At the Last Froll/ler

are being passed from hand to hand.

Some of the Soviet Union 's most im

portant writing has never been published

there at all. Instead. it circulates widely

from hand to hand in the process known as samlzdal (literally. self-publishing). Varlam Shalamov 's lapidary concentra tion-camp stories. some of which were recently published in the U.S. by W.W. Norton under the title Kolyma Tales, have been in samizdat for 20 years. Cur rently the most prized samizdat work is Venedikt Yerofeyev's Moscow-Petushki. The account of a phantasmagoric drunk en excursion on a suburban train, Yero feyev's novella may be the most inno vative piece of prose written in the U.S.S.R. for more than four decades. The Russian text has been published in France.

Once a book has been forced into ex ile, its author often follows . Solzhenitsyn was ostentatiously deported in 1974, While

Andrei Sinyavsky, Joseph Brodsky, Vic

tor Nekrasov . Anatoli Gladilin. Yuz Aleshkovsky and others were pressured in various ways to emigrate. Vladimir Voi novich, the author of The LIfe and Ex traordinary Adventures 0/ Private Ivall Chonkin , a samizdat favorite published by Farrar, Straus & Gir oux in 1977, was warned by the Soviet authorities in March

that his life would become "intolerable" unless he left the Soviet Union.

eorgi Vladimov. 49, is another ex

ceptionally talented writer who has been cut down in mid-career and

who is being hounded by the KGB. One

reason for the persecution is his celebrat

ed novella. Faithful Rl/slall, which has

circulated all over the country tl1 samiz dar; it was published in the U.S. last year

by Simon & Schuster. Ruslan tells of a concentration-camp dog, pitilessly

trained t.o guard con victs. that becomes a

stray when most of the Stalinist camps

are closed down in 1956. Ruslan, and oth

er dogs of his kind. keep a vigil at the local railway station. hoping for the ar

rival of the familiar con voys of prisoners whom they can once again herd to the

camp. "Anyone who waits with such sin

gle-minded devotion is always rewarded

in the end ." Sure enough . one day "an in

credible horde" came tumbling out of a

train . laughing and shouting. "In a mo

ment Ruslan was transformed : flexible ,

alert. his yellow eyes sharp and keen."

The dogs mistake for prisoners a group

of construction workers who have come

to turn the abandoned camp site into a

factory. When the young people begin

strolling toward the site in a disorganized

column, some singing and even dancing

to the music of accordions. the dogs know

what to do: attack.

Vla.dimov·s allegory of contemporary

Soviet society, which was inspired by an

actual event. hardly needs to be explained

to Soviet readers. As a fable of literary

life, it signifies that the official hounds

schooled under Stalin are likely to keep biting a1 the heels of insubordinate writ ers in the Soviet Union for a long time to come. - PatriclMBIMk"

I I

TIME. JUNE 23 . 1980