America Abroad

When Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush met in Madrid last week, they had plenty to talk about but little business to transact. It is no longer clear what authority Gorbachev has to enter into international agreements, or even what the constitutional procedure is for ratifying the strategic-arms- reduction treaty the two Presidents signed last July. That was barely three months ago, but it was, as they say in Moscow, B.C. -- before the coup. Since then, with the rapid disintegration of the U.S.S.R., the very term Soviet leader has become something of an oxymoron. So has Soviet Union.

Two weeks ago,...