The western values Ukraine is defending are becoming more apparent by the day.
Regarding what CIA means by “collective leadership”:
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-01446R000100020012-2.pdf
It is entirely possible that the Soviet leaders are about to develop a new form of “dictatorship by committee”, giving them the advantage of appearing to be quasi-democratic.
When we speak of collective leadership, we mean a committee of a very few men, probably not more than five or six. The larger the membership, the greater the likelihood that fractionalization may occur, dividing the committee into antagonistic groups.
So the CIA calls him a dictator in one memo and not in another. I suppose that proves nothing in the end. Except that the CIA clearly doesn’t understand Soviet governance based on the other details in the memo that you linked.
They call Soviet leadership a party oligarchy in both cases. They do not “agree” with you in any way shape or form.
