Document No. 59: Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev regarding Gorbachev’s State of Mind, May 2, 1989

After Tbilisi and the mixed results from the election for the Congress of People’s Deputies, this diary entry reflects the feeling among Gorbachev’s reform-minded assistants that perestroika has lost its bearings and Gorbachev himself is beginning to feel deprived of political levers to control and steer the processes he himself unleashed. The reference to “velvet gloves” points to Gorbachev’s rejection of the use of force in his policies. Chernyaev, along with Yakovlev and many others, beli...