The External Factors in the Russian Secession Crisis

Gorbachev's perceived failure of leadership was a key factor in the collapse, he says. He began to decentralize both economic and political authorities, particularly to the institutions in the 15 republics. That backfired in a pretty powerful way, because there was an alternative elite represented by the Russian Supreme Soviet. In Western Europe, one can find much more support for Gorbachev's effort to keep things under control,. Much less sympathy towards secessionism.