MARKETS The removal of a portrait could send whispers around the globe. So too, could a shift in the line-up of a military parade. Or the seating plan at an official dinner.
At the height of the Cold War, such signals were key to working out changes in power at the Kremlin. The lack of reliable information about the Soviet Union meant anyone who wanted to figure out what was going on in Soviet politics had to learn to read between the lines, and use even the tiniest nugget of information as a clue.
