Carlyle’s eyes seemed to grow wide with despair. “I know that sounds a bit frightening, but you must accept that statement. The danger is acute. Our intelligence has revealed that now there are men in positions of power in the Soviet Union who would like to carry out the final act of Lenin’s revolution—global hegemony.”
What has all this got to do with me? Alex wondered, looking at the large envelope beside him on the couch. He had heard enough about Lenin’s revolution as a boy.
“When you are dealing with an oligarchy,” Secretary Carlyle continued, “your position is far more vulnerable than when you are dealing with a single ruler. You cannot predict the dynamics of a small group interacting with each other. It is actually easier to deal with a dictator.”
“Few understand it,” the President interrupted. “You make a deal with one man, who represents the group, then you wonder how long the group will support the deal.”
“In a nutshell, Dr. Cousins,” Secretary Carlyle said, “the concept of détente rests in the hands of a single man—Viktor Moiseyevich Dimitrov, General Secretary of the Communist Party, one of the sixteen members of the Politburo. He is its architect and, within the Politburo, the guiding spirit.” Secretary Carlyle paused and rewiped his glasses, replacing them with a one-handed gesture. “It is no secret that our policy, by the very nature of the democratic process, is one of reaction. The Soviets always make the first move. We react. They move again. We react again. Dimitrov has apparently managed to consolidate a great deal of power within the Politburo. He has the most dominant, persuasive personality; he keeps the others frightened and divided and has convinced them that their greatest leverage lies in pursuing a policy of détente. To the Soviets, China is the real enemy. The United States can wait. But it is in China where the problem lies. The Chinese will never bend until the Russians give back most of the land they took from them in the past. And then there is the vital ideological question: Who shall lead the revolution?”
As Alex listened, he could recall his grandfather talking contemptuously about the “Chinks” and their sneaky ways. He thought he understood what Secretary Carlyle was trying to say.
“The Russians have been trying to dominate the Chinese since the seventeenth century,” the Secretary continued. “You know that the Russians are the most notorious racial bigots in the world. For years, they have treated the Chinese as vassals, and from the Chinese point of view, the Russians still control great pieces of China. There have been pitched battles along the five-thousand-mile border. Today, hundreds of thousands of men face each other across these borders, and missiles with nuclear warheads are poised to strike in either direction.”
“It is a powder keg,” the President said. “At the moment, the Russians have the advantage of range. They can send their missiles deep into China. They can knock out major cities, bases, ports, while the Chinese missiles cannot yet reach beyond the cities of Eastern Siberia. The land mass in that part of the world is incredible. The Russians could lose all of Asian Siberia through nuclear destruction and still have a huge population. Their big cities are concentrated far to the west. The Chinese, on the other hand, have vast populations within easy reach of Soviet missiles.”
“Under that kind of pressure,” Secretary Carlyle continued, “one would think that the Chinese might work for some kind of détente with the Russians. The fact is, the Chinese are not to be intimidated by words. Mao himself publicly expressed the opinion that nuclear war would still leave the Chinese with more manpower than the Soviets, enough to reproduce and eventually swallow the Russians, even if it takes another thousand years.”
“Ghoulish,” Alex mumbled. At the mention of Siberia, his heartbeat had quickened. Was
What has all this got to do with me? Alex wondered, looking at the large envelope beside him on the couch. He had heard enough about Lenin’s revolution as a boy.
“When you are dealing with an oligarchy,” Secretary Carlyle continued, “your position is far more vulnerable than when you are dealing with a single ruler. You cannot predict the dynamics of a small group interacting with each other. It is actually easier to deal with a dictator.”
“Few understand it,” the President interrupted. “You make a deal with one man, who represents the group, then you wonder how long the group will support the deal.”
“In a nutshell, Dr. Cousins,” Secretary Carlyle said, “the concept of détente rests in the hands of a single man—Viktor Moiseyevich Dimitrov, General Secretary of the Communist Party, one of the sixteen members of the Politburo. He is its architect and, within the Politburo, the guiding spirit.” Secretary Carlyle paused and rewiped his glasses, replacing them with a one-handed gesture. “It is no secret that our policy, by the very nature of the democratic process, is one of reaction. The Soviets always make the first move. We react. They move again. We react again. Dimitrov has apparently managed to consolidate a great deal of power within the Politburo. He has the most dominant, persuasive personality; he keeps the others frightened and divided and has convinced them that their greatest leverage lies in pursuing a policy of détente. To the Soviets, China is the real enemy. The United States can wait. But it is in China where the problem lies. The Chinese will never bend until the Russians give back most of the land they took from them in the past. And then there is the vital ideological question: Who shall lead the revolution?”
As Alex listened, he could recall his grandfather talking contemptuously about the “Chinks” and their sneaky ways. He thought he understood what Secretary Carlyle was trying to say.
“The Russians have been trying to dominate the Chinese since the seventeenth century,” the Secretary continued. “You know that the Russians are the most notorious racial bigots in the world. For years, they have treated the Chinese as vassals, and from the Chinese point of view, the Russians still control great pieces of China. There have been pitched battles along the five-thousand-mile border. Today, hundreds of thousands of men face each other across these borders, and missiles with nuclear warheads are poised to strike in either direction.”
“It is a powder keg,” the President said. “At the moment, the Russians have the advantage of range. They can send their missiles deep into China. They can knock out major cities, bases, ports, while the Chinese missiles cannot yet reach beyond the cities of Eastern Siberia. The land mass in that part of the world is incredible. The Russians could lose all of Asian Siberia through nuclear destruction and still have a huge population. Their big cities are concentrated far to the west. The Chinese, on the other hand, have vast populations within easy reach of Soviet missiles.”
“Under that kind of pressure,” Secretary Carlyle continued, “one would think that the Chinese might work for some kind of détente with the Russians. The fact is, the Chinese are not to be intimidated by words. Mao himself publicly expressed the opinion that nuclear war would still leave the Chinese with more manpower than the Soviets, enough to reproduce and eventually swallow the Russians, even if it takes another thousand years.”
“Ghoulish,” Alex mumbled. At the mention of Siberia, his heartbeat had quickened. Was
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