Those Who Have Gorbachev's Ear

When Mikhail Gorbachev sits across from Ronald Reagan in Geneva, he will be flanked by many of the same men who have guided the Soviet Union's relations with the U.S. since Leonid Brezhnev's time. Unlike Brezhnev and some of Gorbachev's other predecessors, however, the General Secretary is unlikely to consult his advisers in public. During meetings with foreign dignitaries, in his August interview with the editors of TIME, and in October's visit to France, the new Soviet boss has allowed the men at his side only an occasional whispered suggestion.

Apparently well prepared in advance, Gorbachev speaks at length without looking at notes, but takes advantage of translation time to glance down at a tidy stack of briefing papers, underlined with red, blue, yellow and green felt-tip markers. As Gorbachev was answering a question on Israel during his Paris press conference, one adviser half rose, cupped a hand to his ear to hear what was said, then sat down with a satisfied look when the boss had finished. The Soviet leader will presumably use his staff in a similar way at the summit, referring to their briefing papers for guidance but summarizing the Soviet position succinctly and accurately on his own.

Although he has not appreciably altered basic Soviet foreign policy, Gorbachev has made a key change at the top. A notable absence at the summit is apt to be Andrei Gromyko, a fixture of U.S.-Soviet negotiations for four decades, who has been eased out of the Foreign Minister's job into the largely ceremonial position of President of the U.S.S.R. Although other veterans are likely to follow Gromyko out the door, many have survived previous shifts in Soviet leadership by developing expertise that successive leaders have found invaluable.

The new look in Soviet diplomacy is personified by Gromyko's replacement, the genial and soft-spoken Eduard Shevardnadze, 57. A novice at foreign policy, he speaks with much less knowledge and authority than his predecessor and seems to be mainly a pleasant and able messenger for his boss. While Gromyko tended to deliver harsh lectures to Western diplomats, Shevardnadze offers competent, but far from exhaustive, position summaries. A Communist apparatchik in his home republic of Georgia, Shevardnadze rarely traveled abroad until he was tapped by the party leadership for his present post last July 2. But he has gained visible confidence in recent visits to Helsinki, Paris and twice to the U.S. Says one senior Western diplomat: "The guiding hand of Gorbachev can be seen behind him."

One of Gorbachev's most important foreign policy advisers is Andrei Alexandrov-Agentov, 67. So self-effacing that visitors sometimes mistake him for a secretary, he advised Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko on foreign affairs, probably wielding more influence in this role than anyone other than Gromyko. Largely out of sight in Gorbachev's early tenure, Alexandrov has since emerged at his leader's side in important diplomatic meetings. Alexandrov is a talented linguist, fluent in six languages, including English. A stickler for detail and a master of phrasing, he has been a top speechwriter for the recent Soviet leaders.