Moscow's Frightful and Grudging Concessions

The frightful and grudging concessions Moscow has been making here and there clearly aim to avert a widespread transformation of this discontent into revolutions and civil wars.

However, the facts also reveal the dubious scope of these concessions. For if they seem to appease tempers a bit, they nonetheless awaken among the Discontented the consciousness of their own strength, and of the weakness of their Muscovite adversary who only yesterday had appeared omnipotent. Whence, the Discontented may well be taking advantage of appeasements to rally growing numbers of followers and to prepare them for enormous manifestations - to be held perhaps sooner than expected ‑ which will be even more demanding than the previous ones.

In this way, the typical process whereby insurgent movements advance toward success may develop step by step as the obsolete and putrid establishments decline.