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Q — You talk about a ride in a limousine when Vice President George Bush was with Mr. 

Gorbachev. That was a turning point of some kind. 

A — I think so. That was the ride when Bush was with Gorbachev going to the airport after a 

very successful visit in 1987. Of course, at that time Reagan was still president and the INF 

treaty was his treaty, it was his baby. Bush, however, played a role during the summit. He had a 

very good meeting with Gorbachev. But that meeting was, in my opinion, rather formal in terms 

of what happened. The more informal and very good discussion took place during that limousine 

ride to the airport to, I think—this was, I think, the Andrews Air Force Base, from which 

Gorbachev was leaving Washington. 

Bush said a number of very important things to Gorbachev and Gorbachev responded, I think, 

very well. I think the relationship started then and they often reminded each other of that 

conversation. 

Q — Did you know at the time that that was a turning point? Could you feel it in the car? 

A — To some extent, yes. Yes. I mean, you never know what is going to happen in the 

relationship between such big countries and how important the factor of trust would be in that 

relationship. But certainly I felt that they were beginning—they would be beginning. If Bush 

were elected, I thought that they would be beginning on a very good note with a lot of mutual 

confidence and trust. 

Q — Do you think that Americans ever should have had anything to fear from Russia and the 

Soviet Union? You say in your book that Russia feared China. Should we have feared you? 

A — Not to the extent that America feared the Soviet Union. I think the fear was somewhat 

exaggerated. I believe that as a result, the Cold War, and particularly the arms race, was a lot 

more damaging to both countries, to—to their economies, to the world, than it should have been. 

I believe that a more flexible attitude toward the Soviet Union and an attitude of less fear of 

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Soviet military might could have worked better. It could have helped people who were inclined 

to start some kind of reforms and some kind of accommodation with the United States. 

Q — You mentioned Afghanistan and you also mention in your book that you tuned into the 

Voice of America to get news and information. How often did the Voice of America impact the 

citizens of the Soviet Union do you think? 

A — Well, very often. I think that the Voice of America, Radio Freedom, radio liberty and other 

Western radios, the BBC, in particular, were very important in getting the information for the 

Soviet people during the years when no free information was available. I mean, people learned 

about what was happening very often not from the Soviet newspapers or the Soviet radio and TV, 

but from those radios. So it was really very important, and frankly, I still think that Voice of 

America, radio liberty, are still quite important despite the fact that we have free press today. But