http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 382 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 8 / 2016 the road to freedom (…) freedom is not equal to independence. The United States will not support those who seek independence to substitute a distant tyranny for a regional one, nor those who promote a suicidal nationalism based on ethnic hate» (pg. 91). Indeed, the Bush administration had found in Gorbachev a spokesperson in whom to trust, which resulted in agreements regarding matters which the White House con-sidered transcendental (in particular, nuclear disarmament). However, he also gra-dually understood the imminence of the dismantling of the USSR, which required finding new partners through whom to channel the relations. Nevertheless, Bush, especially, under no circumstances managed without Gorba-chev, whom he always supported. In fact, Bush did not automatically recognize the in-dependence of Ukraine after the referendum held on 1 December, 1991, in which over 90% of the citizens voted for the independence, accepted by Yeltsin’s Russia (though warning that Crimea belonged to Russia, not to Ukraine). In the United States modus operandi, two conflicting alternatives may be identi-fied. On the one hand, the one sponsored by Dick Cheney (to support the dissolution of the USSR, and open consulates in all of the republics). On the other hand, the one from James Baker, George Bush, and Brent Scowcroft, who thought that the declara-tions of independence made by the republics could generate territorial, economic, and military conflicts among them; thus, the disintegration of the USSR should be sealed pacifically (pg. 238). As a result of everything, December of 1991 witnessed the disintegration of the USSR, and the creation of the CEI, lacking supranational structures. Ukraine, Rus-sia, and Belarus had acted unilaterally, voluntarily omitting the figure and attributes of Gorbachev. Furthermore, they considered the United States as the only actor to whom to communicate its actions (which should not be taken as a synonym of held accountable). Once the events took place, the Bush administration also changed the tone and content of its rhetoric: «it is a victory for democracy and freedom. It is a victory for the moral superiority of our values» (pg. 432), stated the American president during Christ-mas of 1991. However, in spite of the profitability that he thought he would obtain from this message during the presidential elections in 1992, such a strategy failed; thus, «like Winston Churchill who had also led his country in times of war, Bush failed to take advantage of the success of his foreign policy. In both cases, the voters wanted a change in domestic policies» (pg. 444). In short, this is an essential work to understand some of the current conflicts be-cause it points to their genesis. Serhii Polkhy transmits to the reader, with rigor and precision, a fundamental part of the history of the 20th century, the disintegration of the USSR, whose consequences are still tangible in the 21st century. - Submited: May 16, 2016. - Accepted: September 2, 2016.
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