Cold War: Soft Wave

Silhouetted against the Soviet embassy's big picture window overlooking the Rhine, Ambassador Andrei Smirnov wore a thoughtful look as he toyed with his vodka glass. Before him sat his West German guests—editors, members of the Bundestag, an official from the government press office. Moscow's new policy, pleaded Smirnov, is not meant as "bait," or as "mere propaganda." The "highest personality in the Soviet Union" (Nikita Khrushchev) is behind this idea: the Soviet Union and West Germany must "normalize" their relations. Russia is no longer disposed to deal only with the U.S., Britain...