European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Andrew Katell Gorbachev blends toughness with diplomacy. Ii Mikhail Gorbachev moved away from quiet diplomacy and got Tough As he sought to resolve a dispute Over an obscure Mountain Region whose importance has grown far beyond its contested Borders. The soviet Leader s handling of the problem offers some insight into How far he is prepared to go in allowing More openness and giving people a greater say in How they Are governed. Gorbachev said the struggle Over a Gorno Karabash a mostly armenian enclave in the Republic of Azerbaijan has inflicted immense damage on perestroika his Reform program. He warned it could doom his plans to modernize soviet society. Addressing the soviet leadership july 25 at a special session of the supreme soviet s presidium Gorbachev said if we fail to find the solution to this ques Tion today and we must find it this would have far reaching consequences and would affect All  the immediate Issue is the future of the sparsely populated largely undeveloped Region in the caucasus mountains. The ethnic armenian majority set out in february to secede from largely moslem Azerbaijan and join predominantly Christian Armenia. But in the soviet Union a Patchwork quilt of 15 republics shared by More than 100 distinct ethnic and National groups redrawing maps is a dangerous business. Jim Fain Gorbachev and the presidium the top executive body of government served notice they were not about to open that Pandora s Box. Clearly Gorbachev s policy of Glas nost or openness is not a guarantee of free speech As practice in Western democracies and democratization does not Sanction a Challenge to one party Rule. The government has tolerated massive demonstrations including some in the armenian capital of Yerevan that have drawn hundreds of thousands perhaps even a million people according to witnesses accounts. But Gorbachev said redrawing the Borders would constitute an abuse of democratization Funda mentally at variance with the Aims of  giving in to nationalist demands he told the presidium would Poison pub Lic mentality with nationalist venom and thereby spoil relations Between the peo Ples for Many Many years to  in unanimously rejecting Magorno Karabash s attempt to secede against Azerbaijan the presidium warned that a series of strikes that began in Magorno Karabash and spread to Armenia Crip pling the local Economy had exhausted the presidium s patience. The Kremlin authorized police to take essential measures to end the strikes and activities directed at kindling National strife and attempts to misuse democratic rights for anti dem the strife torn socratic  troops stationed in areas were reinforced. Baruyr Ayrikyan a Leader of the annexation drive who was arrested in March on a charge of defaming the state was stripped of his soviet citizenship and ordered expelled from the country. The state run National press attacked strike leaders by name. First indications showed the new Tough tactics were having an Impact. Most workers in Armenia returned to their jobs although the general strike continued in Magorno Karabash. The Central leadership clearly has acted with More restraint and tolerance than would have been expected in pre Vious soviet regimes. Not Long ago the Kremlin would have quickly turned to Force to put Down the turmoil. This time the Kremlin first tried the Power of persuasion. Gorbachev made a personal Appeal feb. 26 for civic Matu Rity and restraint and the mass demonstrations in Yerevan subsided. But two Days later a riot broke out in the azerbaijani City of sum Ait and at least 32 people were killed 26 of them Armeni ans. The Kremlin also tried changing the local leadership installing new party chiefs in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The new officials quickly acknowledged that armenians in Magorno Karabash had been deprived culturally and socially under previous regimes. In March the Central government announced a major remedial program to improve cultural and social conditions in Magorno Karabash with much of the Aid going to the armenian majority. But armenians outside the Region perhaps encouraged by the new latitude Given them by glasnost made annexation of Magorno Karabash a crusade. Those who died in sum Ait were its martyrs. The Legislatures of both Magorno Karabash and the armenian Republic sought the annexation claiming the right of self determination guaranteed by the soviet Constitution. But Azerbaijan Cit ing another constitutional provision re Quiring consent of affected republics be fore redrawing boundaries rejected the  set the stage for intervention by the Central government. Democratic rights and the new conditions opened up and created by Peres troika Are being clearly misused for anti democratic purposes Gorbachev told the presidium. Both sides he said were using territorial claims to stir up National sentiments and conceal the really difficult crying problems that had Accuu  can Only come by finding a common course Gorbachev said adding that the search for that course must continue. The associated press nuclear War is no longer Public enemy no. I it takes a new yorker s Gimlet grasp of reality to sum up what s happening this record hot summer. Lis ten to the big Apple s health commissioner Stephen Joseph this period of the 1980s will be remembered As the time the planet struck Back. The planet is telling us we can t treat it this Way  Well if Earth finally is saying i m tired As hell and not going to take it anymore the question ought to be what took her so Long or. Joseph was looking out Over Miles of seacoast from upper Long Island through Southern new Jersey. The main beaches had been reopened for 24 hours or medical wastes came flooding in then re closed when a Staten Island treatment Plant vomited 20 tons of raw sewage into the Ocean after a Power failure. He was referring Only obliquely to such larger matters As the greenhouse effect now almost universally agreed to have begun overheating the planet with scientists reduced to debating How fast and How catastrophically the resultant disaster will descend. Depletion of the Ozone layer with solar Radia Tion s malignant danger not greatly eased by Interior Secretary Donald Hodel s suggestion that we All Rush out for sunglasses and lotion. Spreading acid rain and other atmospheric pollution that threatens to Deforest the entire East coast and much of the rest of the nation. Toxic and solid waste disposal problems that last year sent the Barge Moro on a five month flying dutchman cruise to nowhere and this year find Europe and America trying to convert the african continent into a dumping ground not to mention the illegal medical waste dumping off the new York and new England coasts. Or for a More personal example smog Over the entire Northeast that has produced More than 20 Days since mid june in the District of Columbia where Ilive with Ozone Levels officially designated unhealthy several at twice the danger Point. There s a Bright eager 2-year-old at my House. I Lucky. I be got enough Money to take him out of the Region next summer and will. But we re running out of places to run. The entire planetary nest will be fouled in Only a few years unless we do something major soon. Other than the usual perfunctory Bow to Environ Carbon dioxide encircles Earth causing Toft to the u a Ujj ment you heard Little about this at the democrats National convention. Television lacks the attention Span for More than a couple of crises at a time. Las year s voyage of the Moro is forgotten As this year s medical wastes Wash up. A cause gets Only its 15 min utes of celebrity. For the democrats it was family values and child care week. Maybe some aspect of pollution will flare for George Bush who probably is desperate to change the subject at new Orleans. A month is an eternity in to s global Village. Waste hit the cover of both Newsweek and time recently. It May be front and Center before Laborda and forgotten again by thanksgiving. With the cold War winding Down pollution an the overpopulation and industrialization that Are multiplying have replaced the threat of nuclear War a Public enemy no. 1. If we mount a worldwide Manhattan project scale Effort we May be Able to turn some of this around in time to stave off catastrophe. If not Chicke Little was right and the operative question probably is How much time do we have  news service