COMMENT
TEN PROPOSITIONS ABOUT GLASNOST
AND AMERICA
It is time we recognized that we are in a new political
situation - one that has far-reaching consequences for American
opinion, particularly for the liberals and the left. For Gorbachev has
not only brought a glimpse of democracy into the Soviet regime, but
has necessitated a change in our own thinking. We do not know how
far
glasnost
can go in Russia; perhaps it is doomed as long as the
Communist Party refuses to relinquish its power and maintains a
one-party system. Perhaps its economy is too far gone to be saved.
But in the meantime its political consequences should be clear.
1. Russia no longer presents itself in the image of the enemy.
This might be a myth. But it is bound to affect public opinion here.
It might even diminish the influence of conservatives and the Re–
publican Party. For foreign policy has constituted their main appeal,
with its emphasis on defense and security.
2. Given the myth-or at least the temporary reality-of a
Russia preoccupied with internal problems, the conservatives might
find that their strongest point, the clarity and resolve of their anti–
communism, will be undermined.
3. The rehabilitation of the old Bolsheviks, particularly of the
arch-demon Trotsky, and the partial lifting of censorship and
restoration of free speech, should lead to a reconsideration of the ac–
cepted theories of totalitarianism. The possibility of its reversal has
to be examined, along with the belief that only authoritarian regimes
can be reversed. Hannah Arendt's analysis of totalitarianism, which
was so impressive and original, has to be looked at again. AndJeane
Kirkpatrick's seemingly convincing distinction between totalitarian–
ism and authoritarianism is now open to question. So is the idea that
independent thought can be extinguished permanently. Now, with a
lessening of terror, it appears that the free mind was suppressed but
not dead.
4. It should be evident that we can neither deny the Russian
effort to reform its economy and permit greater intellectual freedom
nor try to further it by economic and political support of the Soviet
Union. Since we cannot foresee the future of
glasnost
nor have any ef–
fect on its outcome, all America can do is pursue its own national in–
terest - which is to welcome democratization but be wary of the ef-
