Alexander Sovelyan (or Savelyan?)
excellent on international problems, Germany. Interviewed 8 Sept 1990, Moscow
Interviewer: Gwynne Dyer

No military threat from W. Germany now or in the future. If there is a reunification of Germany, he hopes that the new Germany will not enter any military alliance. They have the ability to penetrate deep into German territory in case of a war. He thinks that the first thing they should do is reduce this physical capability, dismantle. The talks going on in Vienna are concentrated on this issue. It will improve the political atmosphere and allow new ideas. Soldiers and military officers who are going to be released from service will become unemployed. They need assistance and some of the savings should be put to that, which is why he cannot foresee that there will be a lot of money floating loose.

Gwynne: What about the impending crisis 6 months from now. The old guard could not come back except with the support of the military. Would they get that support?

Answer: This theory is associated with the name of Nikolai Smelyov, the famous economist, who thinks that to prevent such a crisis we need to use up some of our gold. He doesn’t think the military are up to that sort of thing. Asked what sort of security system we would have if we managed to get the degree of disarmament that he was thinking about, he says, I don’t know. We probably need some sort of world military system to keep the peace, but frankly I am not capable of thinking along those lines. I prefer to think of very practical and immediate things such as the number of warheads. I can always argue whether they are destabilizing, but I can’t talk in visionary terms.