From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

Since World War II, TIME has been a global magazine in every sense of the word. Our foreign business, which has nine editions with a total circulation of 1.4 million, is now growing faster than ever. International revenues have increased by 30% in the past two years, and represent 25% of the magazine's total. The economies in Asia are booming, Western Europe is aiming for greater integration in 1992, and Eastern Europe promises new opportunities. All this makes the need for immediate information more important, and that enhances TIME's role as the leading international newsmagazine. This in turn has required the shifting of certain responsibilities in the publisher's office, and with that in mind, I am delighted to have Louis A. Weil III as TIME's U.S. publisher. (I remain worldwide publisher.)

Chip Weil, 48, a native of Grand Rapids, has been a loyal TIME reader since he was a student of American literature at Indiana University. As a naval officer based for three years in Asmara, Ethiopia, he usually went through each issue more than once. Before arriving here he had a successful 18-year career with the Gannett newspapers; he was a senior vice president of Gannett and publisher of a ten-newspaper group with headquarters in White Plains, N.Y., and, most recently, publisher and CEO of the Detroit News. "TIME," he says, "has always been an icon for me -- the source. It was a thrill to be asked to join the flagship." Although all publishing is competitive, he adds, "the biggest challenges here are ideas. Our task is to go into the next century as relevant and essential to our readers as we are now."

Beginning next week, Chip's signature will appear at the bottom of this column.

In addition to our coverage of the Malta summit and other world events, you will find two unique pieces of journalism in this week's issue. One is an interview with East German leader Egon Krenz, the first he has given to an American magazine. The discussion deals with the fall of the Wall, German reunification, the future of socialism and Krenz's decision to avoid bloodshed in Leipzig. The other story is an amazing reconstruction of what went on behind the scenes in Prague in the months before the fall of the Communist regime. These are only two examples of the additional dimension we try to bring to the news every week.