Time Magazine Contents Page

42

MAN OF THE DECADE: An impresario of calculated disorder named Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

The 1980s came to an end in what seemed like a magic act. The shell of an old world cracked, but a new order remained to be built. A master politician, Gorbachev could win election in many countries, but probably not his own. The Soviet threat isn't what it used to be -- and maybe never was.

20

NATION: Panama points up Bush's growing boldness in foreign affairs

The President shows an increasing willingness to use force, but the biggest U.S. military venture since Viet Nam does not look to be an easy triumph. Operation Just Cause was well planned but flawed. Can Panama's new U.S.-installed leaders run the country? Manuel Noriega may have lost control of himself as well as his country. Parcel bombs kill a Southern judge and a civil rights activist.

34

WORLD: Amid bloodshed, Ceausescu falls

Rumania's hard-line leader tries to suppress dissent by ordering a massacre, but a popular uprising drives him from office. An ugly-duckling auto, the Trabi, gets a moment of glory.

76

BUSINESS: Goodbye to greed and unpaid bills

The past decade brought go-go growth but left huge debts, an S&L disaster and an array of postponed problems. The '90s will be a time to fix up, clean up and pay up.

83

BEST OF: A look at the highlights (mostly) of the '80s

Which were the decade's outstanding movies, books or TV shows? What breakthroughs in technology, design or food transformed people's living habits? And who were the celebrities who dominated and defined the era? Thirteen pages of selections from all that was notable in the past ten years, from the '84 Olympics to The Bonfire of the Vanities, from pasta to the fax machine. Nor was every prominent event or personality praiseworthy, by any % means. The Hitler diaries, Ollie North and Pete Rose were part of it too.

10 American Scene

16 Letters

74 Milestones

Cover: Sculpture by Hans Jorg Limbach; Photographed by Roberto Brosan