1 The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign ...

Gorbachev, so Yeltsin was sort of portrayed as a drunken clown, sometimes.
MILLER: Well, he was, sometimes hopelessly drunk, but he was also the leader of
Russia.
Q: But during sort of the period when he was not quite there and all, did you sense within
our own government a concern or an attempt to put all their money onto Gorbachev and
not onto Yeltsin?
MILLER: Yes, I think they would have preferred Gorbachev, as he was more coherent
and predictable, they liked Gorbachev more. Clinton was fascinated by Yeltsin. It seems
he couldn't get enough of this phenomenal man. And, of course, Gorbachev was gone as a
leader when Clinton came to power, so they didn't have a chance to share that direct
chemistry of power that Clinton understands almost better than anyone else I've ever seen.
Q: What about during the Bush administration and Baker and all. From your
observation, how did you find that chemistry?
MILLER: Baker was very helpful. Baker, when he was secretary of state, came to an
American Committee dinner to honor George Kennan. Baker’s daughter worked for me at
the committee as my assistant. He was very knowledgeable and Baker’s interest in
Russian matters goes back to a time when he was a child. He told me this anecdote: in
Houston his tennis coach was a Russian immigrant. He first became interested in Russia
from the stories his tennis coach told him. Baker is a very bright man, and he was very
helpful to us at the time. His handling of the fast changing situation was skillful.
Q: What was the viewpoint from the Moscow side that you were seeing of the fall and all,
the Berlin wall in '89?
MILLER: The fall of the Berlin Wall cannot be understood by itself. The impact of the
1968 Prague uprising on Gorbachev, the power of the human rights movement and the
example of people liked Andrei Sakharov, and Havel, the Solidarity Movement under
Lech Walesa all contributed to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall. But most important
was Gorbachev's decision that people of each nation will make their own decision about
the government they want to have. Self determination is a view that he came to in 1968 in
the Prague uprising. Some of his close friends were Czechs. Gorbachev had deep
sympathy for Dubcek, and some admiration for Vaclav Havel. Some excellent histories
have been written about the fall of the Berlin Wall, including film documentaries that
show that the key decision was Gorbachev’s. I would say further, that an important
influence upon Gorbachev was that of Sakharov who said to Gorbachev, "The republics
should make their own choices."
At the same time, Yeltsin was saying, "Russia has got enough to do to sort itself out,"
Russia meaning greater Russia, and he said further that these people in the East, "they're
not a threat, the West is not a threat. We don't need to have a German dependency – it's
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