10
PARTISAN REVIEW
fact that on most issues the European Communi sts parrot the foreig n
po li cies of the Soviet Uni on-pa rti cu la rl y on the q ues ti on o f
Israel-is a hangover or furth er ev idence th a t Eu ro-communi sm is
no t independent of Moscow. Fou r, whether a process of politi cal
logic has been set in moti on tha t cann o t be reversed-even if th e
Communi st parti es are not trul y independent o r democra ti c, as th ey
say they are. Whether, that is, th e Communi st pa rti es of Europe a re
bound ultimately by the laws of hi story to become democra ti c and
independent, regardl ess of the intenti ons o f th eir burea ucra ti c leader–
ship. Fi ve, whether, even if the European Communi st pa rti es are
trying to establish some degree of independence, they should be
supported or opposed by liberals and people of the Left , pa rti cul a rl y
by Democra tic Socialists.
In
other words, whether their na ture and
their a ims are acceptabl e to people like u s, under any circumstances .
And sixth , fin all y, for those concern ed with Ameri can foreign po li cy,
a furth er questi on is: What altitude sh ould Amer ica ta ke towa rd th e
Communi st pani es of Europe, and the poss ibility of their comin g to
power, either alone or as a pan of a Left coaliti on ? T he ques ti o n
could be put in another way: Should a p rogress ive Ameri can fo reign
po li cy regard the Euro-Communi sts as a force for democracy, o r
to talitari ani sm?
There is a further question or iron y cOl1la in ed in the very term
Euro-communi sm, for it impli es th a t the Soviet Uni on is not pa rt o f
Europe.
In
thi s respect, and by a very circuitolls route, and su rely
un consciously, th e term suggests a return to Ma rx's ori g inal idea,
that Ma rxi sm or sociali sm had to come first in the advanced
countri es o f Eu rope, and no t in th e underdevel oped pan s o f the
world.
I suspect we will not answe r these q ues ti ons toni ght , for even an
il1lelligent di scuss ion always ra ises more ques ti ons than it answers.
We have cast the di scuss ion in the fo rm of an exchange or de ba te,
because we thought the issues would be presented more sha rp ly tha t
way. We have also as ked a few peopl e to act as di scussa l1ls after th e
main speakers present their views.
N orman Birn baum:
In
the first place, I must confess to a considerabl e
and growin g skepti cism abo ut the term "Eu ro-communi sm."
It
is a
conveni ent journ ali sti c term th a t was, in th e end , after a certain
reluctance, accepted by some of the Eu ropean Communi st leaders;
mos t recentl y by Mr. Ma rchais, who has since departed
to
some
degree from the Euro-Communi st line on grounds th a t it was of
some propagandi sti c effi cacy.
