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EUROPE
(Cont inued f rom page 4)
U.S. trade with the Pacific rim
nations exceeded that with t he
Atlantic nations.
Moreover, 40 percent of Ameri–
ca's immigrants each year now come
from Asia (with the same percentage
from Latín Amer ica), as opposed to
only 16 percent from Europe and
Canada. From 1930 to 1960, 80 per–
cent of U.S. immigrants carne from
Europe and Canada.
Given enough time, the United
States would become an Asían- and
Third World-origin nation- and
this is a profound shift that few,
even in t he United States, fully
comprehend.
And even without this new shi ft
to the Pacific, it must be realized
America's close securi ty t ies to
Europe since the end of Wor ld War
II are out of character with the
Amer ican historical experience.
The Economist,
referred to earlier,
editorialized:
"The Americans are not , as too
many Europeans think they are, a
collection of intermar ried Eu ro–
peans who happen to have moved
sideways across the Atlantic, plus
sorne blacks and Hispanics. T hey
are the descendants, in overwhelm–
ing majority, of people who left
Europe because they wanted to be
free or rich and the old world kept
them squashed and poor.
"So they shook Eu rope's dust off
their feet. ... T he act of going to
America was a deliberate deci–
sion ... to turn their backs on the
unsatisfactory polit ics of the world
thcy were leaving behind."
Dcep wi t hin the A merican
psyche, furthermore, is a longing to
drop out of world power pol itics.
"Despite decades of costly interna–
tional experience," writes Eugene V.
Rostow, former di rector of the U.S.
Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency, in thc February 20, 1984
issue of
The New Republíc,
"the
American mind still dreams about
the golden century of isolationism
between 18 15 and 1917 . . . . We
have not yet learned to think like a
great power. Meanwhile, the Soviet
Union plays hard and well, on the
basis of meticulous preparation, in
the ancient t radition of chess.
" lt
is clear what the Soviet lead-
40
ers are up to. While the Russians
dis t ract us by secondary though
importan t moves in the Caribbean
and the M iddle East, they are lung–
ing to neut ralize Western Europe
by detacbing it from the United
States."
" Emancipation of Europe"
What is to be the outcome of the
strained U .S.-West European ties?
One far-reaching a nd sobering
speculation was presented in an
article in the Spring 1983 issue of
Foreign Policy.
Entitled "Freedom
for Europe, East and West," the
a r ticle was wr i tten by Klau s
Bloemer, an official in the Press
and I nformation Office of the West
German government. M r. Bloemer
states that the views expressed are
his own, not necessari ly those of bis
government.
"Jt is a harsh truth," wri tes Mr.
Bloemer, "that the polit ical eman–
cipation o f Eu rope- East and
West- will proceed with difficulty
as long as Western Eu rope remains
utterly dependent upon the United
States." What is now required, this
official adds, " is a vision- a far–
sighted plan to end the confronta–
tion in Central Europe that , for 35
years, has passed for normal ity."
Instead of perpetuating close ties
to the United States, Mr. Bloemer
maintains that "countless histori–
cal , geographic, cultural and strate–
gic interests requ ire that West
European countries enter into sorne
kind of secu rity relationship with
the Soviet Union."
As far as the nations of Eastern
Europe are concerned, continues
this West German official, they no
longer adequately fulfi ll their func–
tion as a buffer zone for the Soviet
Union.
T he 11
O
miIl ion East Europeans,
he maintains, "represent a poten–
t ially disruptive political and social
force" within the Soviet orbit. And
economically, their blcak econo–
mies constitute an acu te drain on
Soviet resources.
This presents West Europeans
with the oppor tunity to offer the
Soviets and their East European
partners what Mr. Bloemer cal ls "a
New Deai-Marshall Plan-type pro–
posa!" to modernize thcir econo–
mies.
" An essential precondition for
s uch a n evolution," he add s,
"would be ending both Soviet and
Ame rican m il itary presence in
East and West European coun–
tr ies," with "a West European
defense organization" arising to
replace the departing Amer icans
in the West.
Western Eu rope would continue
to recognize thc Soviet Union's " lc–
gitimate secur ity requirements,"
but in retu rn for this recognition
and the offering of massive eco–
nomic assistance, the Soviets hope–
fu lly would allow much greater
freedom for their East European
satell ites, similar to that enjoyed by
Finland.
The end result, Mr. Bloemer
hopes, will be the "Finlandization
of Moscow's European a ll ies"
and- notc this- the emergencc of
"two self -governing ha/ves of
Europe"
(emphasis ours through–
out).
Understanding " Finlandization"
T he term " Finlandization" is nor–
mally uscd in the mass media to
convey willing Wcst European sub–
servience to Moscow. As such, it is
incorrect. Moreover, it is high ly
offensive to the Finn ish people
who, faced with the geographical
fact of life of an 800-mile border
with the Soviet Union, have nev–
er theless managed to preserve thei r
Western-style independence.
Looking at it from the perspec–
tive of the East Europeans, said
Mark E. Au s tad, former U.S .
ambassador lo Finland, "the East
Europeans would !ove to be Fin–
landized."
Soviet expert Nora Beloff adds
that " the whole concept of Finlan–
dizat ion necds to be reversed ."
W riting in the July 30, 1982,
Daily
Telegraph
of London, Ms. Beloff
stressed how important Finland is
to the Soviet Union, especially in
trade.
Fin land, moreover , is not
strapped with the chronic economic
problcms of the East bloc, increas–
ing ly an economic burden for Mos–
cow. "That is why," said Ms. Bel–
off, "sooner or later, Moscow must
be persuaded to see that it is in its
own economic as well as security
interests to Finlandize the satell ites
and set the people free."
T he prognostication of M r.
The PLAIN TRUTH