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THE POLITBURO Its Operations? This Organization,Itsinfluence,And Soviet Unionasawhole The true composition of power in the Kremlin is known only to the thirteen men who wield it. REAT efforts are being made to It has a long and checkered histo- Gdiscern the real lineup of politi- ry, one that reaches even further cal power in Mikhail Gorbachev's back into history than the October Politburo. Before the Washington Revolution of 1917. summit last December between On October 7, 1917, Vladimir I. President Reagan and the new Sovi- Ulyanov, clean-shaven, wearing a et General Secretary, US news- wig for disguise, and calling himself papers were filled with reports on by his pseudonym, Nikolai Lenin, the "key men in the Kremlin" and was smuggled into Petrograd from "the Gorbachev team." exile. The plain fact is that no one can Three days later, fifteen days be- be certain of the structure of power fore the Red uprising began, twelve at the highest echelons of the Com- members of the Central Committee munist Party. It is only through the met with Lenin in the apartment of THE POLITBURO BY HARRIET FAST SCOTT occasional volcanic eruption that G. K. Sukhanov at No. 32 on the flings unacceptable members out of Karpovka Embankment. It was the club that the US gains what little there that feverish final prepara- evidence it has about behind-the- tions began for the approaching up- scenes affairs. rising. Even so, attempting to crack the Feliks Dzerzhinskiy, founder of Politburo is worthwhile, if only be- the Cheka (precursor of today's cause how the West views Gor- KGB), proposed the formation of a bachev's own political situation has Politburo to be headed by Lenin. great effect on how it deals with the The first seven-man Politburo, in- Soviet Union as a whole. cluding Leon Trotskiy, Joseph Sta- What, then, are the facts about lin, Lev Kamenev, Grigoriy Zinov- this organization, its influence, and iev, Andrey Bubnov, and Grigoriy its operations? Sokolnikov, was organized by The Politburo (short for Pol- Lenin. This group gave political iticheskoye Buro, or "Political Bu- guidance to the revolution, but was reau") of the Central Committee of disbanded not long after. STAR the Communist Party of the Soviet /BLACK Union (CPSU) is the key policy- The Center of Power ley Turn making body that directs the work The Politburo did not begin to r of the Party between plenums of the function as a permanent agency un- te Central Committee. til after the 8th Party Congress in -0 Pe 54 • • • r • virumme • • • • The Kremlin is a clear symbol of the Soviet Union. Much less clear is what takes place behind the walls of the old Russian citadel. March 1919. Soon, however, it be- In the current Politburo, it is Gor- was appointed in 1973 to the Polit- came the center of power, usurping bachev himself, now about to em- buro. He has since July 1985 been the role of the Central Committee bark on his fourth year in the Gener- Chairman of the Presidium of the itself. al Secretary's post, who clearly Supreme Soviet—"President" of Composed of thirteen men today dominates the action. the nation. Until that time, the posi- and never more than fifteen, the This is not to say, however, that tion of "President" had since 1977 Politburo includes heads of higher there is a uniformity of views im- been held by the General Secretary Party and state agencies as well as posed by Gorbachev. The Politburo, himself. Largely ceremonial, the the most influential and experi- in fact, is a microcosm of Soviet post is seen as Gorbachev's reward enced political figures of the day. power and policies, reflecting the to Gromyko for his support in the Every five years, at the week- various regions, professions, and succession struggle. Gromyko from long Party Congress, delegates as- economic interests of society at 1957 to 1985 served as Minister of semble to pick, among other things, large. Foreign Affairs. During World War a new Central Committee of the II and after, Gromyko acted as Sovi- CPSU. In 1986, 5,000 delegates, The Current Lineup et Ambassador in Washington. representing nearly 20,000,000 Par- That much is made clear in a list- • Yegor Ligachev, sixty-seven, ty members, selected 307 members ing of the current lineup of mem- an aeronautical engineer, was also and 107 candidate (nonvoting) bers. among the first of the Gorbachev members. • Mikhail S. Gorbachev, a law- appointments in 1985. As "second Central Committees must hold at yer, is at fifty-seven the youngest of Secretary," he runs the Secretariat least one plenum every six months. the Politburo's members. In Andrey for Gorbachev. Western press re- The first of these is held before the Gromyko's 1985 speech nominating porting portrays Ligachev as being Congress adjourns and is intended Gorbachev for General Secretary, more "conservative" than Gor- for the sole purpose of choosing a he pointed out that Gorbachev had bachev, but there is little evidence new Politburo that will carry out been a Party Secretary since 1978 one way or the other about this. He broad Party policy. They also select and a full Politburo member since also is in charge of ideology and Par- a new Secretariat that will handle 1980. Gromyko further noted that ty personnel, placing Gorbachev the day-to-day work of the Party Gorbachev had supervised the Sec- supporters in key Party slots. through departments. retariat for his predecessor, Kon- • Aleksandr Yakovlev, sixty-five, Simple though it sounds, the Po- stantin Chernenko, and had also a diplomat, was elevated to full presided over Politburo meetings when Chernenko was not there. "A man of strong convictions" is the way that Gromyko described Gor- bachev. Gromyko warned that the "tele- scopes" of the world were focused on the Soviet Union. They are look- ing for cracks in the Soviet leader- ship, he said, but added, "We will Gorbachev not give our political enemies satis- Ryzhkov Gromyko faction on that score." litburo selection process is a ritual Gromyko did not fail to mention membership in 1987. Since 1986, he fraught with intrigue and political that Gorbachev had given close at- has been the Secretary in charge of significance of the highest order. Ul- tention to the armed forces. In Polit- ideology, propaganda, and culture. timate power rests in the hands of buro meetings, said Gromyko, the A former exchange student at Co- this small group. The most impor- new leader had advised members of lumbia University in New York, he tant political, social, economic, and the necessity to "keep our powder accompanied Gorbachev to the Ice- Party questions are decided at dry." Gorbachev, contended Gro- land summit in 1986 and to the meetings of the Politburo. myko, always defended the "strug- Washington summit in 1987. He is a How does it operate? The Polit- gle" for peace and the need to keep specialist on the United States and buro runs on the basis of "democrat- Soviet defenses at the "necessary Canada, having served ten years as ic centralism," that is, "strict Party level" as "the holiest of holies" for ambassador in Ottawa. discipline and subordination of the all Soviet citizens. • Lev Zaykov, sixty-four, an en- minority to the majority" and • Nikolay Ryzhkov, fifty-eight, gineer, was appointed to the Polit- "unconditional commitment to de- an engineer, is also a Politburo buro in 1986. A Party Secretary cisions of higher agencies by lower member. He was one of the first of since 1985, he is believed to be re- ones." the new Politburo appointees under sponsible for defense industry. In Translated, this means that once Gorbachev, his elevation coming in late 1987, Zaykov became First Sec- the leadership reaches a decision, April 1985. He became Chairman of retary of the Moscow City Party no dissent is permitted or tolerated. the Council of Ministers—"Pre- Committee. The Moscow Party is The Party's actions are strictly sub- mier"—later that same year. second only to the Ukrainian Com- ordinated to one center—the Polit- • Andrey Gromyko, seventy- munist Party in size. He replaced buro. eight, an economist and diplomat, the maverick Boris Yeltsin after the 56 AIR FORCE Magazine / March 1988 latter was ousted for "gross political Party. He has met many times with buro and the Secretariat. They are errors." Zaykov will probably be Secretary of State George Shultz on Ligachev, Nikonov, Yakovlev, giving up his post in the Secretariat arms-control matters and summit Slyunkov, and Zaykov. as a result his assumption of the new planning. A subcategory of this "Party" duties. • Vitaliy Vorotnikov, sixty-two, group is formed of regional Party • Viktor Nikonov, fifty-nine, an an aeronautical engineer, was raised bosses. It includes Shcherbitskiy of agricultural expert, was appointed in status to full Politburo member- the Ukraine and Zaykov, who now to the Politburo in mid-1987. He ship in June 1983. At that time, he runs the Moscow Party Committee. graduated from the Azov-Black Sea became "Premier" of the Russian These are the two largest Commu- Agricultural Institute. The first man Soviet Federated Socialist Re- nist Party organizations in the Sovi- to be added to the Secretariat under public. He served as Soviet envoy et Union. Solomentsev, as Party Gorbachev, Nikonov is responsible to Fidel Castro's Cuba from 1979 to control chairman, is in another sub- for Soviet agriculture—one of the 1982. category as well. most important jobs in the country. • Mikhail Solomentsev, seventy- Next in line behind the "Party" • Nikolay Slyunkov, fifty-eight, four, an engineer, was appointed to group is what is known as the an engineer, was elevated to full Po- the Politburo in 1983 after twelve "government" group, which com- litburo membership in mid-1987.
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