 Complete the following phrase:  By the mid-1980s the Soviet Peace Committee concluded that the WPC was a politically expendable and spent force, although it continued to provide funds until 1991. As the Soviet Peace Committee was the conduit for Soviet direction of the WPC, this judgement represented a downgrading of the WPC by the Soviet Communist Party. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Peace Committee developed bilateral international contacts in which the WPC not only played no role, but was a liability. Gorbachev never even met WPC President Romesh Chandra and excluded him from many Moscow international forums. Following the 