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The
.
onservattve
World
Contes Together
by
John Ross Schroeder
Representatives from 19 Western countries have launched a
worldwide conservative association called
IDU- the International Democrat Union. What will it achieve?
S
AID
POPE J ohn Paul 11
a t Kat owice , Pola nd ,
"Fr om th e Cr ea t o r
comes the socia l cha racte r of
h uman aspi ra tions–
t h e n ee d t o j o i n.
togethe r and to unite
with one another."
The urge t o unit e
seems to be a basic
human characte ris–
tic.
dent med ia, basic personal free–
doms, r ights of assembly, wer e
present in t he d ocument. The
wording was careful to reject any
form o f totalitarianism. Yet the
dominion of mind and spirit." West
G erma ny's Franz Josef Strauss
concluded, "The com ing together
today represents
a spiritual con–
f ronta/ion
with Marxism. "
T he latest maj o r
man ifcstation of t h is
fundamental u rge of
humanki nd occu r red at
the [nter-Con t ine n tal
Hotel in Lon d o n in
J une. The list of names
was impressive to say
the least: Ma r garet
T hatcher ,
Geo r ge Leaders of tbe European Democrat Union and the Pacific Democrat Union
Bush, Helmu t Kohl joined forces in London in late June to form the International Democrat Union.
and F ranz J osef
Strauss, to ment ion just a few.
T here, each representative per–
sonally signed a Declaration of
Principies designed to undergird
the l nternational Democrat
Union. Human rights were repeat–
edly stressed in th is brief docu–
ment. All the usual statements
about free elections, an indepen-
November / December 1983
generally liberal press in the
Uni ted States took little note of
the document.
Many leaders made majar
speeches. Said British Pr ime Mi n–
ister Margaret T hatcher: " T he
I nternational Democrat Union gir–
dles the earth.
It
is not an empire.
But it will be, we hope, a great
U .S. Vice P resident George
Bush ended his speech with a state–
ment that "the world, under God,
should have a new birth of free–
dom." Aust ralian Opposition Lead–
er George Peacock began his talk,
"The greatest strength of the Inter–
national Democrat Union will be its
(Continued on page 36)
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