NATO as an Anomoly
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In the euphoric period of late 1989 and early 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, symbol of the Cold War, journalistic and popular hopes were raised that Europe's long era of Cold War tension might finally be at an end. It became both possible and popular to imagine a future peaceful, prosperous Europe in which a social democratic or even capitalistic Soviet Union would be a constructive partner. In consequence, it was widely held that NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, had become a cold war holdover, an anachronism. A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a certain sobriety has set in. The Soviet Union has continued, outwardly at any rate, to evolve ever more rapidly away from the familiar Stalin Brezhnev monolithic model, but it has become clear that the path of reform is uncertain at best. Separatist tensions run high in most of the outlying republics, several of which have declared their "independence." Mikhail Gorbachev remains in power, but insecurely, challenged visibly by the liberal "left" and perhaps less visibly by the nationalistic, militaristic, and orthodox communist "right."1 A re united Germany faces deep problems of economic and social dislocation in the former East German territories, problems which have erupted visibly in violent street riots staged by militant "squatters" in Berlin.2 It has become clear that the path of economic, social, and political reform in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is likely to be ext
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been near riots over shortages of cigarets. The probability is great that continued efforts at reform, even if "successful" in their direction, will lead to unemployment and shortages, perhaps severe and prolonged, before the efficiencies of the market can take hold to create new jobs and fill store shelves.
How long will the Soviet people endure the sharp deterioration of their visible economic condition as they wait for reform to fulfill its promise? And if their endurance snaps, what will be the consequences? These things are impossible to foretell. It is possible only to outline some of the possibilities as illustrations of what might come to pass.
1. Restored communist orthodoxy. The machinery of the traditional Stalin Brezhnev Soviet system remains almost entirely in place, though some of its operation has been temporarily suspended or disrupted. Reformers find that apparatchiks at every level tend to resist change and reform, yet they must attempt to operate through these same apparatchiks for lack of any available alternative structure through which any plans can be implemented. The potential remains for these apparatchiks to turn out the relatively few reformers in top positions and attempt a retu
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Square June, War II, Fortress America, Western European, Stalin Brezhnev Soviet, Western Europe, Union Apart, II Soviet, soviet union, eastern europe, european security, western europe, global affairs, affairs spring, affairs spring 1990, spring 1990, global affairs spring, world war, world war ii, times november, angeles times november, november 15, november 15 1990,
Approximate Word count = 2904
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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