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Union. Both achievements were
made possible by the permanent
entanglement of the U ni ted
S tates."
But 40 years of division is long
enough, Europeans increasingly
insist.
Breaklng the Deadlock
Europe's present state of affairs
was more or Jess fixed at the Allied
big-power meeting held at Yalta in
the Soviet C rimea, February 4 to
11 ' 1945.
Over the years, in the Western
world at least, the word
Yalta
has
almost become synonymous with
betrayal. At this conference more
than at any other (such as the
Teheran conference in 1943, or the
Potsdam summit in 1945), the
nations of Eastern Europe were in
fact conceded to the Soviet Union.
But conditions change in 40
years.
..Siowly and tentatively," wrote
Jonathan Steele in the February
28, 1985, issue of the
Daily
Tele–
graph
(London), ..a few Europeans
(and sorne Americans) are begin–
ning to think of an alternat ive
future. " One of these is Polish-born
Zbigniew Brzezinski, formerly Na–
tional Security Adviser to U.S.
President Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Brzezinski a rgues in the
December 27, 1984,
New York
Times.
as well as in a majar article
in the Winter 1984-85 issue of
For–
eign A.ffairs,
that Yalta has come
to "symbolize tbe unfinished strug–
gle for Europe's future."
This division, perpetuated by the
direct presence of both superpow–
ers, will not be overcome, Mr.
Brzezinski maintained, without
.. the emergence of a politically
more vital Europe less dependent
militarily on America ... leading
eventually to a fundamentally al–
tered relationship with Eastern
Europe and Russia."
To nudge the Europeans in the
direction of unity, the former Car–
ter administrative official urged
Washington to undertake ..a ten–
year program of annual cuts of the
U.S. ground forces in Europe."
The hope would
be
to loasen, at
least partially, the Soviet military
gr i p on t he Eastern satellite
nations, producing ..a Europe that
would be less at conftict with the
6
Soviet Union than a Europe bosting
a large American army."
Economics, too, would play a
majar role in this blueprint for
gradual ..emancipation" of Eastern
Europe. Both the United States
and Japan are racing into the high–
tech world of the fu ture. The frag–
mented economies of Western
Europe are becoming less competi–
tive by comparison.
This creates opportunities, ac–
cording to Mr. Brzezinski, for the
nations of Western Europe to offer
the type of economic aid the nations
of Eastem Europe need. "The fear
that America may be turning from
tbe Atlantic to the Pacific ... justi–
fies a wider economic, and potential–
ly
even a política/ accommodation
between an industrially obsolescent
Western Europe and the even more
backward Soviet bloc, a logical cus–
tomer for what Western Europe can
produce."
Even tbe Soviets, Mr. Brzezinski
claims, might be tempted witb a
greater economic cooperation–
especially if American military
forces are drawn back from West–
ern Europe. Mr. Brzezinski asked:
"Wby then should not the next
generation of Soviet leaders be
pressed also to come to terms with
tbe fact that the interests of the
Soviet people would be better
served by a less frustrated and
oppressed east-central Europe, par–
taking more directly of the benefits
of all-European cooperation?"
Significantly, the fi rst sign of"the
..next generation of Soviet Jeaders"
has alread y appeared with the
selection, in March, of 54-year-old
Mikhail Gorbachev as the Commu–
nist Party's General Secretary.
Mr. Gorbachev is known to favor
sizeable reforms of the stagnant
Soviet economy. The personable
new leader is highly regarded by
Westero officials.
U.S.-Europe Rift
World events are inexorably mov–
ing in the direction of European
reunification- and possibly a lot
swifter than tbe gradual approach
Mr. Brzezinski outlined. At issue is
tbe f uture of t he relationship
between the United States and its
European allies.
The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization is now entering its
37th year. That is an unprece–
dented duration for an a lliance,
especially a peacetime one.
There are now serious strains in
NATO, more than ever. Two grow–
ing disputes in particular have the
potential to rip the aJiiance asunder.
President Ronald Reagan's ener–
getic push for a space-based anti–
ballistic missile system has caused
consternation throughout Western
Europe. Officially, most allied gov–
ernments approve research on the
Strategic Defense Initiative-the
so-called Star Wars plan. But
doubts persist as to its impact, if
deployed, on the defense of Europe.
Many fear that a Star Wars shield
would decouple Europe from U.S.
defense strategy.
The French, in addition, are con–
cerned that their own independent
nuclear strike force could be ren–
dered irrelevant. France, says the
spokesman for a Paris-based re–
search institute, sees its "huge
investment in both nuclear and
conventional weapons tbreatened."
The French may push even hard–
er than ever for the creation of a
separate European defense force.
Mr. Brzezinski, as if anticipating
this development, urged that
..America should particularly en–
courage efforts at increased
French-German mi litary coopera–
tion and eventual integration."
Split Over Central America
Even more serious a threat to the
future of the alliance is the devel–
oping crisis confronting the United
States in Cent ral America, espe–
cially with the regard to the gov–
ernment of Nicaragua.
The Reagan administration ap–
pears determined to root out the
Marxist revolutionary leadership in
Managua. The United States gen–
uinely believes that the toehold of
communism in the region must be
elimi nated lest the contagian
spread right up to America's south–
ern border.
Many in Europe view this analy–
sis with alarm, believing that the
United States is becoming paranoid
over the existence of a relatively
small "socialist" state.
These opposing viewpoints could
dash the Western alliance to the
ground. In the March 1985 issue of
(Continued on page 44)
The PLAIN TRUTH