The Sinatra Doctrine

SOVIET UNION, 1989: Frank Sinatra gets credit for a lot of things: being the epitome of Vegas cool; being an incredible singer; being a “swordsman”/ladies man; and for (probably) pulling mob strings to get the part in From Here To Eternity.

He also helped end the cold war.

“We now have the Frank Sinatra doctrine. He has a song, ‘I (Did) It My Way.’ So every country decides on its own which road to take,” said Gennadi I. Gerasimov, the Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman, in 1989. He used Sinatra as a universal reference in when he was discussing the Warsaw Pact at the end of the Cold War.

When asked if that meant that the Soviet Union wouldn’t interfere with the political system in other eastern bloc countries, Gerasimov said, “That’s for sure . . . political structures must be decided by the people who live there.”

It was a huge turnaround for the Soviets, who historically had ruled the other countries in the Warsaw Pact with an iron fist and demanded their strict adherence to communism.

Good job, ol’ blue eyes.