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Examines the current problems facing Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on the eve of his summit meeting with United States President George Bush in Washington, D.C. Trade restrictions against the Soviet Union; Germany and NATO; Free market mechanisms and panicky shoppers; New offer to Lithuania.

Presents a speech by United States President George Bush, `President Bush Remarks on Mikhail S. Gorbachev's Resignation,' televised to the nation from Washington, D.C. on December 25, 1991. Bush's comments on the honored place in history which Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev will hold.

Asserts that the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has diminished after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Control exerted by the U.S. over NATO; Need of the European countries to support the NATO and depend on the U.S. during the Cold War years; Efforts of European countries to assert their military independence from the U.S. after the Cold War; Reluctance of the U.S. to let go of its influence over the Europeans.

Asserts that Americans and Europeans sending food to the Soviet Union can do it in a right way or in a wrong way, and the wrong way could hasten a civil war. Food crisis not due to bad land, equipment, or Russian laziness; Pre-revolution farming;Kulaks; History of abusive Bolshevik rule; Ration cards; Distribution should not go to the government because the KGB will distribute only to their own; Distribution should be decentralized; Socialism creates corruption and dishonor.

Considers the political upheaval in Russia. Conflict between Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin maneuvering to keep weak the former Soviet Union's central authority, and Mikhail S. Gorbachev trying to regain power from the Republics; Importance of the West's decision regarding whom to support, and how heavily; Gorbachev's ability to maneuver and Yeltsin's political mistakes after the coup attempt; Nuclear weapons and nationalist conflicts.

Comments on various socio-economic and political developments. Lessons that can be learned from the death of fiction writer Samuel Beckett, New York Yankees manager Billy Martin, and the couple Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu; Glimpse of Panama and America from a home-movie footage taken in 1950s; U.S. invasion of Panama; Manifestation of Soviet Union's perestroika in the staging of an exhibit of poor quality goods in Moscow.

Focuses on socio-economic developments in the world. Intention of general secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev to turn off the spigot of Soviet aid and trade subsidies; Efforts to expand U.S.-Soviet economic ties; Urge by the U.S. to Russians to time cuts in economic aid in a way that would convince Cuban President Fidel Castro to end the arms flow to the rebels.

Focuses on United States foreign policy initiatives. Details of its nuclear nonproliferation initiative with the Soviet Union; Details of its engagement in peace talks between Israel and Palestine; Limitations of these initiatives, such as the failure of their predecessors; U.S. nuclear unilateralism policies; Outlook for these initiatives.

Suggests that the U.S. provide dollars to the Soviet Union in exchange for radical disarmament. Argument that the U.S. should avoid coexistence with a convulsive creature that commands 12,000 nuclear warheads; Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's view that his country needs to make economic reforms or else there will be hunger.