[CCIP]

Yes, but I should note one other thing: I don't consider the end of the cold war to be positive. Although I agree that 'progress in understanding' was made strategically and I'm even willing to acknowledge that Mr. Gorbachev was a very good diplomat and, unlike so many Soviet leaders (and citizens) knew which way the wind was blowing internationally - he was a bad strategist and let things slide out of hand; likewise, the West, assuming that the 'right way' was found in Russia and it would promptly come to the 'good side' of democracy and market liberalism once the Soviet Union collapsed, celebrated too early and failed to see a humanitarian catastrophy and political mess that actually happened. I think the West was too busy winning the Cold War to notice how badly the Soviets lost it and what consequences it would lead to. I don't think people on this side of the fence really appreciate what a disaster (rather than triumph) the dismantling of the Soviet Union was, both internally and internationally (nb - not the fact of the dismantling itself per se but the manner, timing and spirit in which it occurred).