40. THE THIRD MAN BREAKS LOOSE
In getting out of Afghanistan and negotiating with America about
other regional conflicts, Gorbachëv overturned the traditions of Soviet
foreign policy. He dreamed of nothing less than a new world order
resting on principles of peaceful change. Events in the Persian Gulf on
2 August 1990, when Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi armed forces into
Kuwait, called his thinking into question. This was a flagrant breach of
international law; it alarmed every neighbouring country, and the
Americans demanded immediate withdrawal. Bush issued an ulti-
matum that threatened dire consequences if Saddam refused to comply.
Washington’s bellicosity disappointed Gorbachëv, who still hoped to
establish a global partnership with America that gave a commitment to
non-violent methods. He feared that the Bush administration aspired
to dominating the world as the single hyperpower. Gorbachëv had
people around him who felt the same. Yevgeni Primakov, an academic
who specialized in Middle Eastern affairs, argued that the USSR had an
interest in preventing the defeat of its traditional allies in the region,
including even Saddam’s Baathist administration; Valentin Falin in the
Party International Department lobbied Gorbachëv to ally with
Europe’s political left in opposing armed action against Iraq.^1
On the other side of the debate were Shevardnadze and Cherny-
aev, who wanted to align the USSR with American foreign policy.^2
They urged Gorbachëv to give Washington no cause for annoyance.
A lot was at stake in international relations. The Middle East was
important but should not take precedence over the big items of unfin-
ished business between the superpowers. The Americans for their
part wanted to bind the USSR into a partnership against Saddam. On
3 September, they made a request for the Soviet sea freighter
Magnitogorsk to carry US forces to Saudi Arabia.^3 They continued to
press for a favourable answer.^4
At their next summit meeting in Helsinki on 9 September 1990,
Gorbachëv complained to Bush about how the Americans had sent