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single most importan! aspect of the
changing world power relationship.
The Soviets are fearful - in fact.
paranoid- about their shaky eastern
ftank. As a result Moscow is making
renewed eA'orts to shore up relations
in the Wes t- particularly with Wes t
Germany.
Th e governme nt-contro lled So–
viet press has recently carried a
number of a rticles emphasizing its
improvcd relations with Bonn. In
the wake of Soviet Party Chief
Leonid Brezhnev's visit to Bonn las t
May. Soviet television showed a
ftattering documentary on Wcst
Gcrmany.
West Gcrmany is now by far the
Soviet Union's biggest capitalist
trade partner, well ahead of Japan
a nd thc U.S. The momentum is
the re. furthermore. for vastly in –
crea ed German-Soviet trade. A re–
port in the
Christian Science
Monit or
last May s tressed that
"West Germany·s trade with the So–
vie t Union is growing by such leap
a nd bounds that it makes the
United States look like a medi um–
s ízed power.
"The importance of growi ng West
German-Soviet trade links was un–
derscored with Soviet Pres iden!
Leonid Brezhnev's, signing of a 25-
yea r trade pact in Bono this month.
West German Chancellor He lmut
Schmidt described the new agree–
ment as 'without parallel in th e re–
cent h istory of the world.' "
In a recen! interview given to the
Wes t German Socia l Democrat ic
weekly
Vonvarts,
Mr. Brezhnev in–
dicatcd that trade between the two
countries had increased
2~
times
between 1973 a nd 1977. and
5 ~
time since 1970.
The
Hannoversche A llgemeine
Zeit ung
has furthermore re pon ed
that the Bon n govemment has pre–
pared a draft program for huge ex–
pansion of Soviet-West German
trade a nd industrial cooperation.
rcaching into thc '90s. According to
the same source, the Soviet Union's
vas t development projects are ex–
pected to provide jobs for the Fed–
e ral Republic. which has mo re than
a million unemployed.
Thus. simila r to the case with J a–
pan and China. trade worries within
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1978
the Western alliance a re g 1v1ng
added cause fo r Bonn' economic
Drang nach Osten
(drive to the east).
Playing on U. S. Weakness
The Soviets have an unwitting a lly
in their new campaign in the West–
the United States. According to the
authori tative Evans-f'Jovak Report
o f July
5,
1978, datelined from
Bonn: "The Soviet campaign to cast
doubt on the dependability of the
United States is in full bloom across
Europe. particula rly here in West
Germany which for 30 years has
been the root of the U. S. European
The Kremlin is trying to
woo the West Germans,
the F rench, and other
Western Europeans away
from their economic and
military ties to the U.S.
The Soviets are playing
up to European fears
abou t the fa te of the U.S.
dollar and America's
declining role as
defender of
the free world.
strategy against Moscow. The smell
of this Soviet campaign is every–
where, sweetened with th e appre–
hensions of America's NATO a llies
as to whether lhe Carter Adminis–
tration really knows what it wants
a nd how to get it."
European bankers, economists.
a nd those engaged in foreign trade
are thoroughly frustrated with the
policies of the current Administra–
tion in Washingto n, ils lack of de–
fen se of 1he do llar- lhe world's
reserve currency- and its inability 10
enact an effective energy program.
Europeans. says the
Christian
Science Monitor's
Richard
L.
Slrout.
are witnessing a "deflated President
and a defia1ed dollar." Or. as a col–
umni sl for a newspaper in Hanno–
ver, Wesl Germany. phrased it:
"The Ameri cans a re no longer 1he
unquestioned leaders of the Wes t
they once were. The dollar is weak
and so is the American Presiden
t. "
The deteriorating situa lion can–
not be permitced 10 go on much
longer, say top officials on 1he conti–
nent. Count Otto Lambsdortf. West
Germany's minis1er of economics.
told a meeting of journalists in To–
kyo in September thal " the key 10
solving the dolla r's problem is no t in
Tokyo or in Bonn but in Washing–
ton alone.
"That mcans it is up to the Amer–
ican Admini s tration 10 push
lhrough a n energy conservation pro–
gram to help stabilize the dollar in
1he long lerm."
There is no doubl about it. Amer–
ica 's lack of national will and deci–
siveness is responsible more tha n
anything else for sorne Europeans
questioning the value of 1he West–
ern alliance- and for beginning to
wonder if lhey should strike a deal
with the opposition instead.
A New Rapallo?
There a re influential officials in the
Wesl German governmenl, admil–
tedly in the mino rily for now, who
openly advocate a far more sub–
slantial accommodalion with the
Soviet Union .
A prime example is Egon Bahr,
a rchitect of Willy Brandl's
Ost –
politik,
and now general secretary of
the ruling Social Democratic Party
(SPD). Herr Bahr spent hours talk–
ing with Leonid Brezhnev both in
Bonn and on a subsequenl trip he
made to Moscow in July.
In his discussions with the Soviet
presiden!. Bahr did nol act as an
emissa ry of Chancellor Helmut
Schmidt. His ideas, in facl, reflect
those of lhe SPD's activist lefl wing
and conflict wilh lhose of Chancel–
lor Schmidt, a confirmed Atlanticist.
Neverth eless. as Germany's con–
fid e nce in the U.S. decreases , Bahr's
" radica l" a pproach could become
the Ge rma n policy of the fulure.
According to columnists Evans and
Nova k: "Here is the specter of what
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