Revolution of '89 Noam Chomsky The Nation, January 29, 1990
The striking asymmetry is highlighted by the U.S. reaction to
Moscow's moves. There is little thought that the United States
might relax its grip over its own domains, or act to mitigate
the horrors that prevail there. Rather, the question is how best
to exploit the retraction of Soviet power to achieve U.S.
designs. The test of Gorbachev's "new thinking" is his
willingness to withdraw support from those whom the United
States seeks to crush. Only if Gorbachev permits us to have our
way will he prove his good faith. As recent events in Panama
reveal, the United States continues to claim the right to
achieve its ends by violence, on pretexts so transparently
absurd that refutation is hardly necessary.  This pattern
prevails worldwide. Thus in the Middle East, for almost twenty
years Washington has blocked a broad international consensus on
a diplomatic settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In the
current version, the official "peace process" is