Kohl and Bush assess the situation in the Soviet Union after the coup. They reiterate their continued support for Gorbachev and his reform policy. 

Brief overview of the debate among NATO states regarding the drastic changes in Soviet foreign policy and their effects on European security and the alliance.

The telegram decribes West Germany's reactions on Gorbachev's December 7, 1988 address at the UN where he announces drastic changes in Soviet foreign and security policy.

Discussion of separatist and nationalist sentiment in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Negotiations between Gorbachev and Thatcher on U.S. and British concerns, as well as Britain's cautious optimism, about the Soviet Union's perestroika and glasnost policies.

M.S. Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher discuss global geopolitical issues, particularly growing terrorist organizations across Africa.

Approaches to take advantage of the evolving political landscape in the Soviet Union to leverage and promote US interests via Soviet policy proposals.

Predictions about the next four years in the Soviet Union's evolving political and cultural landscape, including that internal protests against perestroika will dominate the focus of Soviet leadership, that perestroika and its attendant backlash will in turn redistribute funds away from military spending, and that ultimately, these and other conflicts and pressures will promulgate the collapse of the Soviet Union.

An intelligence analysis from the CIA covering recent changes to the Soviet Union's state structure and leadership reorganization, legal reforms, economic resource allocation, foreign policy etc. under Gorbachev's more powerful position.

Gorbachev et al prepare for their upcoming UN visit, and discuss presenting their reformed policies, arms reductions, the implementation of perestroika, withdrawal of troops from Hungary, and overall Soviet-American relations.