How U.S.-Russia Diplomacy Went Heavy Metal

Something makes the current standoff between Russia and the U.S. worse than the Cold War: the lack of a common language between the two world powers' elites.

Back in the day, U.S. and Soviet diplomats were capable of pragmatic communication even as their leaders publicly maintained their separate rhetorical lines. Henry Kissinger described his long-time counterpart, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, as an "adversary, colleague and friend, all in one." "We tried to prevent a situation from arising where the Soviet leaders would have to make decisions suddenly," Kissinger recalled at Gromyko's centennial. "We tried to tell them ahead of time what we thought and why. I would try to say to Gromyko, 'I don’t know yet what we will propose, but I will tell you what we think.' After a while, Gromyko developed the same attitude."