U.S. Policy Toward Eastern Europe: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress, First Session, July 26, 1989U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990 - 92 pages |
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alliance Ambassador Luers Atlantic Council believe bloc crisis Brezhnev doctrine Bulgaria Central Europe Chairman change in Eastern common European home communism Communist Party continue crises CSCE Czechoslovakia DAWISHA democracy democratic differences division of Europe domestic East European countries East European leaders East European regimes East Germany East-West Eastern Europe Eastern European economic reforms encourage ern Europe forces foreign policy future Gang of Four GATI glasnost going Gorbachev greater happen human rights Hungarian immigrants influence interests in Eastern issue leverage ment military million Moscow nations NATO Nowak opportunity perestroika Poland and Hungary policy of differentiation Polish Polish-American potential Prague Prague Spring problems promote pursue question reduce remain role Romania sector seek Senator BIDEN socialism socialist Solidarity Soviet leadership Soviet Union stability statement talking tion U.S. Congress U.S. policy United Walesa Warsaw Pact workers Zhivkov
Popular passages
Page 21 - ... to the [higher] interests of world socialism and the world revolutionary movement."14 This new definition, applied with force by Soviet tanks, obviously was meant to limit the independence of the East Europeans far more than that of the Soviets. After coming to power in March 1985, Gorbachev called several times for building intra-bloc relations on a new basis. On the whole he has shied away from using the term socialist internationalism, limiting his references to only the most important state...
Page 19 - Konrad have admitted the possibility of a "gradual, controlled transformation of the Soviet bloc into a looser community of nations capable of interacting with Western Europe on a partnership basis.
Page 18 - common home" Soviet views of Europe are complex and multifaceted. They arise from the historical Russian conflict between on the one hand the Slavophile rejection of Western culture's subversive and corrupting nature and on the other the Westernizers' embrace of the values of the Enlightenment and the objectives of economic development.
Page 21 - ... movement, which is waging a struggle for socialism. This means that every Communist Party is responsible not only to its own people but also to all the socialist countries and to the entire Communist movement.
Page 16 - ... model" of socialism; (2) the redefinition of socialist internationalism; and (3) a broader conceptualization of Europe as "a common home". Rejection of a single model of socialism Gorbachev himself set the standard in revising these notions, beginning at the 27th Party Congress when he specifically emphasized "unconditional respect in international practice for the right of every people to choose the paths and forms of its development.
Page 21 - We are also firmly convinced that the socialist community will be successful only if every party and state cares for both its own and common interests, if it respects its friends and allies, heeds their interests and pays attention to the experience of others. Awareness of this relationship between domestic issues and the interests of world socialism is typical of the countries of the socialist community. We are united, in unity resides our strength, and from unity we draw our confidence that we...
Page 19 - ... security on the basis of the Helsinki process and radical cuts in nuclear and conventional arms."21 In line with this call for a more mature detente, Soviet leaders have also emphasized new formulations about security which could have a fundamental impact on Soviet-East European relations in the future. Deputy Foreign Minister Loginov, speaking in Hungary, characterized as a "new feature" of Soviet foreign policy the fact that Soviet leaders now believe that soviet security could only be guaranteed...
Page 16 - Even worse, a stereotyped approach was given an ideological tint by some of our theoreticians and especially practical leaders who acted as almost the sole guardians of truth. Without taking into consideration the novelty of problems and the specific features of different socialist countries, they sometimes displayed suspicion toward those countries' approaches to certain problems. . . . Furthermore, negative accretions in these relations were not examined with a sufficient degree of frankness, which...
Page 21 - On the other hand, Gorbachev has used other important occasions to emphasize principles which are at odds with socialist internationalism, principles like the independence and sovereignty of every state, the "inalienable right" of all parties "to make decisions on the choice of paths of social development," and the "impermissibility of interference in internal affairs under any pretext whatsoever," all of the above being affirmed in an important mutual declaration with the Yugoslavs in March 1988.
Page 16 - ... avert crisis situations,"4 underlined only his commitment to reappraise certain important aspects of the relationship, without suggesting for a moment that Moscow was considering allowing a situation to develop which would lead to the denunciation or overthrow of socialism in Eastern Europe or the demise of the Soviet alliance system in Eastern Europe. While admitting that the development of the socialist bloc has encountered a large number of problems, Gorbachev himself clearly sees the existence...