"The final countdown". The global gospel. Who and when started the Soviet prestruika in 1961, on June 4, a conversation took place at the Soviet embassy in Vienna between Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. President John Kennedy. Among other things, Khrushchev told Kennedy that he prefers personal contacts whenever possible: it is always better than acting even through the best ambassadors; natural love is preferred over love through interpreters. During the meeting many topics were discussed, ranging from building submarines and nuclear experiments to joint space flights. Kennedy concluded the conversation by recalling that last night he asked Mr. Khrushchev what role he held at age 44 (Kennedy's age). Khrushchev replied that he was head of the Moscow Planning Committee. To that Kennedy answered that he hopes at age 67 (as Khrushchev was) to be head of the Boston Planning Committee. Khrushchev then suggested that perhaps the President might want to be head of the World Planning Committee. But Kennedy replied no, only the city of Boston. "Why Boston?" you ask. Six years after this conversation and two years after Kennedy's assassination, his advisor and advisor to the next President Lyndon Johnson, McGeorge Bandy, met in Moscow with Deputy Minister of the Soviet Union's Science and Technology Committee (SCST) German Gvishiani. Bandy and Gvishiani discussed future cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and for stability it was decided to seal this cooperation through third‑party ties, which was London. Officially, Bandy was prompted by a speech from his boss, President Johnson, who at the height of the Cold War, in 1966, suddenly said that the time had come for scientists in the United States and the Soviet Union to work together on problems beyond military and space issues: "...on problems that affect all developed societies, such as energy, our healthy oceans."

"The final countdown". The global gospel. Who and when started the Soviet prestruika in 1961, on June 4, a conversation took place at the Soviet embassy in Vienna between Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. President John Kennedy. Among other things, Khrushchev told Kennedy that he prefers personal contacts whenever possible: it is always better than acting even through the best ambassadors; natural love is preferred over love through interpreters. During the meeting many topics were discussed, ranging from building submarines and nuclear experiments to joint space flights. Kennedy concluded the conversation by recalling that last night he asked Mr. Khrushchev what role he held at age 44 (Kennedy's age). Khrushchev replied that he was head of the Moscow Planning Committee. To that Kennedy answered that he hopes at age 67 (as Khrushchev was) to be head of the Boston Planning Committee. Khrushchev then suggested that perhaps the President might want to be head of the World Planning Committee. But Kennedy replied no, only the city of Boston. "Why Boston?" you ask. Six years after this conversation and two years after Kennedy's assassination, his advisor and advisor to the next President Lyndon Johnson, McGeorge Bandy, met in Moscow with Deputy Minister of the Soviet Union's Science and Technology Committee (SCST) German Gvishiani. Bandy and Gvishiani discussed future cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and for stability it was decided to seal this cooperation through third‑party ties, which was London. Officially, Bandy was prompted by a speech from his boss, President Johnson, who at the height of the Cold War, in 1966, suddenly said that the time had come for scientists in the United States and the Soviet Union to work together on problems beyond military and space issues: "...on problems that affect all developed societies, such as energy, our healthy oceans."