DOCSLIB.ORG

Coming to Terms with the Past: Commemorating a Key Step in Democratisation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Coming to Terms with the Past: Commemorating a Key Step in Democratisation Coming to terms with the past: Commemorating a key step in democratisation Andres Kasekamp Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, Professor of Baltic Politics at the University of Tartu The year 2009 was celebrated as the 20th anni- versary of the collapse of communist regimes and the restoration of liberty in Central and Eastern Europe. The high point was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall – the most visible symbol of the divided continent and the absurdities of the Cold War. The ice had begun to melt in Tallinn earlier than in East Berlin. The “Singing Revolution” occurred The ice had begun to melt in in Estonia already in June 1988, when massive Tallinn earlier than in East Berlin. spontaneous peaceful demonstrations at the Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn resulted in the removal of the old guard hard-line communist party leadership. The 1989 revolutions in the Warsaw Pact countries showed the people of the Baltic states that anything is possible. Nevertheless, Western governments counselled patience – their fi rst priority was to support Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in Moscow, and they feared that the Baltic peoples’ desire for independence would undermine his position. Diplomacy naturally favoured stability and the status quo, even though most Western governments had never offi cially recognised the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states. Though Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians began their drive for freedom earlier than most of Central Europe, it took them longer, until 1991, to achieve it. An important milestone on this complicated road was the Congress of People’s Depu- ties of the USSR, elected in March 1989 in the fi rst competitive elections held in the USSR. The Congress opened up public political debate in the USSR. Deputies from Estonia were among the staunchest advocates of democratisation. In the spirit of 98 COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST: COMMEMORATING A KEY STEP IN DEMOCRATISATION 2010 glasnost (openness) proclaimed by Gorbachev, they called for the establishment of a committee to investigate the existence of the secret protocols of the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact. Gorbachev reluctantly acquiesced and appointed his close advisor Alexander Yakovlev to head the committee. The deputy chairmen were Edgar Savisaar, leader of the Estonian Popular Front, Yuri Afanasyev, Director of the Moscow State History and Archive Institute, and Valentin Falin, Head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. Among the other prominent indi- viduals of the 27-member committee were Alexy Ridiger, the future patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Estonian physicist Endel Lippmaa, who was actually the driving personality behind the work of the committee. The secret protocols of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggres- sion Treaty, widely known as the Molotov-Ribben- With this deal, Stalin gave Hitler trop Pact after the foreign ministers who signed the the green light to launch his in- treaty on 23 August 1939 in Moscow, carved Eastern vasion of Poland and ignite the Europe into spheres of infl uences – Finland, the Bal- Second World War. tic states, Bessarabia, and the eastern part of Poland were assigned to the USSR. With this deal, Stalin gave Hitler the green light to launch his invasion of Poland and ignite the Second World War. The USSR soon joined Nazi Germany by dismembering Poland from the east. After Poland, it was time for the Baltic states: On 24 September 1939 the USSR issued an ultimatum to Estonia demanding the immediate stationing of Red Army troops on its territory. In the next act, in June 1940, Moscow installed puppet governments in the Baltic states and subsequently incorporated them into the USSR. Tens of thousands of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians lost their lives as a result of Soviet terror. The Baltic members of the committee hoped for a resolution by the Congress in time for the 50th anniversary of the Pact on 23 August 1989. When it became clear that this was not forthcoming, the Estonian Popular Front, together with its Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, organised an unprecedented human chain, stretching from Tallinn to Vilnius via Riga – a distance of over 600 kilometres. An estimated one-and- a-half million people joined hands across the Baltic republics on that day to signal to the world their desire for freedom and to put pressure on Moscow to admit to the existence of the secret protocols. Finally, the Congress denounced the Molotov-Rib- bentrop Pact on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1989. Finally, the Congress de- The resolution omitted any mention of the conse- nounced the Molotov-Ribben- quences of the pact. It was a political and moral trop Pact on Christmas Eve, judgment rather than a legal assessment. Yakovlev 24 December 1989. realised that the resolution would not have been 99 2010 ESTONIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS YEARBOOK approved by the Congress had the implications been stated, since the denunciation of the secret protocols undermined the legitimacy of Soviet rule in the Baltic republics. To commemorate this important breakthrough – one of the most signifi cant diplo- matic accomplishments for Estonians – the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, an in- dependent think-tank which co-operates closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised an international conference in Tallinn on 17–18 September 2009. The con- ference commemorated a unique moment in recent history when Estonians and Rus- sians (and others) were able to honestly face their shared tragic past together. While there has been much bitter controversy over the past few years, notably the crisis involving the relocation of the Soviet war memorial in Tallinn in 2007, the work of the committee in 1989 gives hope that in the future Estonians and Russians can fi nd common ground. An honest approach to history can provide an opening for reconcili- ation between nations. The conference participants included veterans of the 1989 committee from the Baltic states and Russia, including Vitaly Korotich, the editor-in-chief of the highly infl u- ential Russian current affairs magazine Ogonyok during the perestroika years, who remarked that “Estonia has been ‘liberated’ so many times during its history – by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Russians and others – my sincere wish is that Estonia will never be ‘liberated’ again!” In addition to Estonian scholars and politicians who have been personally involved with the issues, such as Professor Marju Lauristin and Igor Gräzin, the conference also featured presentations from younger Russian researchers: Irina Karatsuba from Moscow State University, Nikita Petrov from Memorial, and Anna Sevortian from the Andrei Sakhorov Centre in Moscow, as well as speakers from Germany: Dr. Ludwig Biewer, the Director of the German Foreign Ministry’s Ar- Several of the speakers under- chive, and Dr. Jan Lipinsky, who has conducted lined the worrisome trends in extensive research on the subject1. Russia today where the space for public debate is increasing- Several of the speakers underlined the worri- ly limited and where the justi- some trends in Russia today where the space for fi cation of the crimes against public debate is increasingly limited and where humanity committed by the the justifi cation of the crimes against humanity Stalinist regime is increasingly committed by the Stalinist regime is increasingly accepted. accepted. The establishment of a commission by 1 Jan Lipinsky, Das Geheime Zusatzprotokoll zum deutsch-sowjetischen Nichtangriffsvertrag vom 23. August 1939 und seine Entstehungs- und Rezeptionsgeschichte von 1939 bis 1999 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag, 2004). 100 COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST: COMMEMORATING A KEY STEP IN DEMOCRATISATION 2010 The book presented at the conference, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Challenging Soviet History is a must-read for anyone seeking insight into the inner workings of glasnost and perestroika. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev specifi cally tasked with combating the “falsifi ca- tion of history”, i.e. contradicting the offi cial view of recent history, was noted as one example of this negative trend in 2009. As well as the speakers from the above-mentioned countries, presenters from Finland, Poland and Ukraine also shared their experiences of coming to terms with the past, contributing a valuable comparative perspective to the conference. The best-known example of successful reconciliation in contemporary Europe is that between former enemies France and Germany. A highlight of the conference was the launch of English and Russian versions of the book Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Challenging Soviet History written by Professor Heiki Lindpere, an Estonian specialist on international law who served as a consultant to the committee in 1989.2 It is a fascinating insider’s account of the deliberations of the committee. It is a must-read for anyone seeking insight into the inner workings of glasnost and perestroika. The conference showed that coming to terms with the past is an important founda- tion for democratisation as well as a way towards reconciliation between nations. The problem is not with history or historians – professional Estonian and Russian histo- rians who stick to the objective standards of their profession are able to discuss and debate complicated and painful episodes among themselves. The diffi culties arise when politicians engage in ‘memory politics’ and seek to impose one orthodox narra- tive which excludes all other possible interpretations or experiences. 2 The book is available as a pdf fi le at the homepage of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute: www.evi.ee under “Publications”. 101.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Minorities and Majorities in Estonia: Problems of Integration at the Threshold of the Eu
    MINORITIES AND MAJORITIES IN ESTONIA: PROBLEMS OF INTEGRATION AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE EU FLENSBURG, GERMANY AND AABENRAA DENMARK 22 to 25 MAY 1998 ECMI Report #2 March 1999 Contents Preface 3 The Map of Estonia 4 Ethnic Composition of the Estonian Population as of 1 January 1998 4 Note on Terminology 5 Background 6 The Introduction of the Seminar 10 The Estonian government's integration strategy 11 The role of the educational system 16 The role of the media 19 Politics of integration 22 International standards and decision-making on the EU 28 Final Remarks by the General Rapporteur 32 Appendix 36 List of Participants 37 The Integration of Non-Estonians into Estonian Society 39 Table 1. Ethnic Composition of the Estonian Population 43 Table 2. Estonian Population by Ethnic Origin and Ethnic Language as Mother Tongue and Second Language (according to 1989 census) 44 Table 3. The Education of Teachers of Estonian Language Working in Russian Language Schools of Estonia 47 Table 4 (A;B). Teaching in the Estonian Language of Other Subjects at Russian Language Schools in 1996/97 48 Table 5. Language Used at Home of the First Grade Pupils of the Estonian Language Schools (school year of 1996/97) 51 Table 6. Number of Persons Passing the Language Proficiency Examination Required for Employment, as of 01 August 1997 52 Table 7. Number of Persons Taking the Estonian Language Examination for Citizenship Applicants under the New Citizenship Law (enacted 01 April 1995) as of 01 April 1997 53 2 Preface In 1997, ECMI initiated several series of regional seminars dealing with areas where inter-ethnic tension was a matter of international concern or where ethnopolitical conflicts had broken out.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ukrainian Weekly 1989, No.11
    www.ukrweekly.com ЇЇ5ІГв(І by the Ukrainian National Association Inc.. a fraternal non-profit association| ШrainianWeekl Y Vol. LVII No. 11 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 1989 50 cents Accused by Russian Orthodox Church Ukrainian H/lemorial Society confronts Iryna Kalynets, Mykhailo Horyn vestiges of Stalinism in Ulcraine to be tried for 'inciting' faithful by Bohdan Nahaylo which suffered so much at the hands of JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Ukrainian The charges, which stem from the the Stalinist regime, there has been a Another important informal associa­ national and religious rights activists dissidents' participation in a moleben in strong response to the new anti-Stalin tion has gotten off to an impressive Iryna Kalynets and Mykhailo Horyn front of St. George's Cathedral in Lviv, campaign that has developed since start in Ukraine, strengthening the have been accused by the Russian commemorating Ukrainian Indepen­ Mikhail Gorbachev ushered in glasnost forces pushing for genuine democrati­ and democratization. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Lviv eparchy, of dence Day on January 22, claim that zation and national renewal in the cultural intelligentsia, especially the instigating religious conflicts among Mrs. Kalynets and Mr. Horyn yelled republic. On March 4, the Ukrainian writers, as well as a host of new informal believers. Their trial was scheduled tor obscenities directed at Metropolitan Memorial Society held its inaugural groups, have sought a more honest March 9 and 10. Nikodium, hierarch of the Russian Or­ conference in Kiev. The following day, depiction of Ukraine's recent past and thodox Church in Lviv. several thousand people are reported to the rehabilitation of the victims of Investigators have questioned a num­ have taken part in the society's first' political terror.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Ajalooline Ajakiri, 2016, 3/4 (157/158), 477–511 Historical consciousness, personal life experiences and the orientation of Estonian foreign policy toward the West, 1988–1991 Kaarel Piirimäe and Pertti Grönholm ABSTRACT The years 1988 to 1991 were a critical juncture in the history of Estonia. Crucial steps were taken during this time to assure that Estonian foreign policy would not be directed toward the East but primarily toward the integration with the West. In times of uncertainty and institutional flux, strong individuals with ideational power matter the most. This article examines the influence of For- eign Minister Lennart Meri’s and Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar’s experienc- es and historical consciousness on their visions of Estonia’s future position in international affairs. Life stories help understand differences in their horizons of expectation, and their choices in conducting Estonian diplomacy. Keywords: historical imagination, critical junctures, foreign policy analysis, So- viet Union, Baltic states, Lennart Meri Much has been written about the Baltic states’ success in breaking away from Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and their decisive “return to the West”1 via radical economic, social and politi- Research for this article was supported by the “Reimagining Futures in the European North at the End of the Cold War” project which was financed by the Academy of Finland. Funding was also obtained from the “Estonia, the Baltic states and the Collapse of the Soviet Union: New Perspectives on the End of the Cold War” project, financed by the Estonian Research Council, and the “Myths, Cultural Tools and Functions – Historical Narratives in Constructing and Consolidating National Identity in 20th and 21st Century Estonia” project, which was financed by the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS, University of Turku).
    [Show full text]
  • 3 148-159 Sato.Indd
    The Molotov-Ribbentrop Commission and Claims of Post-Soviet Secessionist Territories to Sovereignty Keiji Sato Abstract: At the end of Soviet era, pressed by the Popular Front forces of the Baltic republics, the first Congress of the USSR People’s Deputies decided to set up the Molotov-Ribbentrop Commission. The Baltic representatives of the commission debated on how to make null and void the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was considered as one of the main causes of incorporation of the Baltic States in 1940. The heated dispute inevitably extended to the issue of reevaluating national history, as well as the redeclaring of sovereignty and territorial restoration. This paper largely explores the diversion of three nationalizing republics concerning the negation of Athe secret protocol and territorial restorationism: Lithuania, Ukraine, and Moldova. Keywords: Congress of USSR People’s Deputies, Lithuania, Moldova, Molotov- Ribbentrop Commission, state sovereignty he “Commission of the Congress of USSR People’s Deputies for the Political and T Legal Estimation of the Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact of 1939” (hereafter, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Commission, or MRC) was an important landmark in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pact and the secret protocol attached to it, signed by Soviet for- eign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop on August 23, 1939, drastically redrew the map of Eastern Europe. In 1939 and 1940, the Soviet Union incorporated the Baltic countries, Bessarabia, Karelia, and the eastern Keiji Sato is a research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and at Hokkaido University’s Slavic Research Center.
    [Show full text]
  • Supreme Soviet Investigation of the 1991 Coup the Suppressed Transcripts
    Supreme Soviet Investigation of the 1991 Coup The Suppressed Transcripts: Part 3 Hearings "About the Illegal Financia) Activity of the CPSU" Editor 's Introduction At the birth of the independent Russian Federation, the country's most pro-Western reformers looked to the West to help fund economic reforms and social safety nets for those most vulnerable to the change. However, unlike the nomenklatura and party bureaucrats who remained positioned to administer huge aid infusions, these reformers were skeptical about multibillion-dollar Western loans and credits. Instead, they wanted the West to help them with a different source of money: the gold, platinum, diamonds, and billions of dollars in hard currency the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and KGB intelligence service laundered abroad in the last years of perestroika. Paradoxically, Western governments generously supplied the loans and credits, but did next to nothing to support the small band of reformers who sought the return of fortunes-estimated in the tens of billions of dollars- stolen by the Soviet leadership. Meanwhile, as some in the West have chronicled, the nomenklatura and other functionaries who remained in positions of power used the massive infusion of Western aid to enrich themselves-and impoverish the nation-further. In late 1995, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development concluded that Russian officials had stolen $45 billion in Western aid and deposited the money abroad. Radical reformers in the Russian Federation Supreme Soviet, the parliament that served until its building was destroyed on President Boris Yeltsin's orders in October 1993, were aware of this mass theft from the beginning and conducted their own investigation as part of the only public probe into the causes and circumstances of the 1991 coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
    [Show full text]
  • The Estonian Russian Divide: Examining Social Diversity in Estonia with Cross-National Survey Data
    The Estonian Russian Divide: Examining Social Diversity in Estonia with Cross-National Survey Data Christina Maimone Department of Political Science Stanford University April 6, 2004 Draft Since Estonia’s separation from the Soviet Union, Estonians and Russians in Estonia have struggled to live together as one society. While Estonians and Russian-Estonians1 may never have been a single integrated society, the conflict between Estonians and Russian-Estonians intensified during the formation of the independent Estonian state. During the process of establishing a constitution and new government in post-Soviet Estonia, Estonian was made the only official language of the state.2 Citizenship was granted automatically only to those who had ancestors with Estonian citizenship prior to the Soviet occupation in 1940.3 This prevented the vast majority of Russians in Estonia, approximately one-third of the residents of Estonia at the time, from being able to gain Estonian citizenship. In addition to the exclusion from citizenship, some Estonians encouraged Russians who had been located in Estonia during the Soviet occupation to leave Estonia and return to Russia. Some Russian-Estonians did migrate back to Russia, but most of the Russian-Estonians made the decision to stay where they had been living, in come cases, for their entire lives. For those without Estonian ancestors, the Estonian Law on Citizenship requires passing an Estonian language examination. Estonian is considered to be a difficult language to learn, and it is in a different language family than Russian. The language programs designed to prepare individuals to take the language examination were drastically under-funded through the 1990s, which prevented those wanting to learn Estonian from being able to.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Opi Io -Buildi Gi Mass Media: a Media A
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DSpace at Tartu University Library TARTU ÜLIKOOL Faculty of Social Sciences and Education Centre for Baltic Studies Annika Bostelmann PUBLIC OPIIO-BUILDIG I MASS MEDIA: A MEDIA AALYSIS OF ESTOIA’S UCLEAR EERGY DEBATE I 2011 Master’s Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Peeter Vihalemm Tartu 2012 (BACKSIDE OF TITLE PAGE) This thesis conforms to the requirements for a Master’s thesis [Prof. Peeter Vihalemm, January 6th, 2012](signature of the supervisor and date) Admitted for defense [January 9th, 2012](date) Head of Chair: [Dr. Heiko Pääbo, January 9th, 2012](name, signature and date) Chairperson of the Defense Committee [Dr. Heiko Pääbo](signature) The thesis is 24,965 words in length (excluding bibliographical references and appendices). I have written this Master’s thesis independently. Any ideas or data taken from other authors or other sources have been fully referenced. [Annika Bostelmann, January 8th, 2012](signature of author and date) Student code: A95753 Acknowledgement: The author would like to thank Prof. Peeter Vihalemm and Dr. Heiko Pääbo for their inspiration and support in the process of creating her thesis, Maio Vaniko, Viacheslav Morozov, and Maie Kiisel for their assistance. Further thanks go to Kardi Järvpõld, Päivi Pütsepp, Eric Benjamin Seufert, and Iva Milutinovič for their criticism and linguistic support, and the author’s family for their encouragement. ABSTRACT The partial meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima power plant in 2011 has spread more than radiation: It caused a wave of dispute in many countries about the use of nuclear energy and forced those countries to re-evaluate their national energy independence given the risks posed by a plant.
    [Show full text]
  • In Words and Images
    IN WORDS AND IMAGES 2017 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 The Academy Is the Academy 50 Estonia as a Source of Inspiration Is the Academy... 5 Its Ponderous Birth 52 Other Bits About Us 6 Its Framework 7 Two Pictures from the Past 52 Top of the World 55 Member Ene Ergma Received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Science 12 About the fragility of truth Communication in the dialogue of science 56 Academy Member Maarja Kruusmaa, Friend and society of Science Journalists and Owl Prize Winner 57 Friend of the Press Award 57 Six small steps 14 The Routine 15 The Annual General Assembly of 19 April 2017 60 Odds and Ends 15 The Academy’s Image is Changing 60 Science Mornings and Afternoons 17 Cornelius Hasselblatt: Kalevipoja sõnum 61 Academy Members at the Postimees Meet-up 20 General Assembly Meeting, 6 December 2017 and at the Nature Cafe 20 Fresh Blood at the Academy 61 Academic Columns at Postimees 21 A Year of Accomplishments 62 New Associated Societies 22 National Research Awards 62 Stately Paintings for the Academy Halls 25 An Inseparable Part of the National Day 63 Varia 27 International Relations 64 Navigating the Minefield of Advising the 29 Researcher Exchange and Science Diplomacy State 30 The Journey to the Lindau Nobel Laureate 65 Europe “Mining” Advice from Academies Meetings of Science 31 Across the Globe 66 Big Initiatives Can Be Controversial 33 Ethics and Good Practices 34 Research Professorship 37 Estonian Academy of Sciences Foundation 38 New Beginnings 38 Endel Lippmaa Memorial Lecture and Memorial Medal 40 Estonian Young Academy of Sciences 44 Three-minute Science 46 For Women in Science 46 Appreciation of Student Research Efforts 48 Student Research Papers’ π-prizes Introduction ife in the Academy has many faces.
    [Show full text]
  • Reform and Human Rights the Gorbachev Record
    100TH-CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES [ 1023 REFORM AND HUMAN RIGHTS THE GORBACHEV RECORD REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES BY THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE MAY 1988 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1988 84-979 = For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE STENY H. HOYER, Maryland, Chairman DENNIS DeCONCINI, Arizona, Cochairman DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts TIMOTHY WIRTH, Colorado BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico WYCHE FOWLER, Georgia EDWARD FEIGHAN, Ohio HARRY REED, Nevada DON RITTER, Pennslyvania ALFONSE M. D'AMATO, New York CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey JOHN HEINZ, Pennsylvania JACK F. KEMP, New York JAMES McCLURE, Idaho JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming EXECUTIvR BRANCH HON. RICHARD SCHIFIER, Department of State Vacancy, Department of Defense Vacancy, Department of Commerce Samuel G. Wise, Staff Director Mary Sue Hafner, Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel Jane S. Fisher, Senior Staff Consultant Michael Amitay, Staff Assistant Catherine Cosman, Staff Assistant Orest Deychakiwsky, Staff Assistant Josh Dorosin, Staff Assistant John Finerty, Staff Assistant Robert Hand, Staff Assistant Gina M. Harner, Administrative Assistant Judy Ingram, Staff Assistant Jesse L. Jacobs, Staff Assistant Judi Kerns, Ofrice Manager Ronald McNamara, Staff Assistant Michael Ochs, Staff Assistant Spencer Oliver, Consultant Erika B. Schlager, Staff Assistant Thomas Warner, Pinting Clerk (11) CONTENTS Page Summary Letter of Transmittal .................... V........................................V Reform and Human Rights: The Gorbachev Record ................................................
    [Show full text]
  • In March 1972 the Leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet
    MueRecognitionller in Return for Détente? Recognition in Return for Détente? Brezhnev, the EEC, and the Moscow Treaty with West Germany, 1970–1973 ✣ Wolfgang Mueller In March 1972 the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), Leonid Brezhnev, unexpectedly suggested that the Soviet Union might be willing to recognize the European Economic Community (EEC). Until that point, the Soviet Union had refused to recognize the EEC and had regularly and vigorously attacked it as a “community of monopolists” and a stalking horse for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Brezhnev’s predecessor, Nikita Khrushchev, had conveyed similar signals re- garding possible recognition in 1962, but he never turned the idea into reality. In contrast, some ten years later, Brezhnev inspired the start of negotiations between the EEC and the Soviet bloc’s Council of Mutual Economic Assis- tance (CMEA). This article draws on Soviet archival documents as well as Western and Russian publications and memoirs to analyze the background, circumstances, and consequences of Brezhnev’s initiative. The article gives special attention to the following questions: What convinced Brezhnev and his colleagues in 1972 to change their hitherto uniformly negative assessment of the EEC? Was this change the result of a major policy reassessment or simply a byproduct of other considerations? How was the initiative linked with broader Soviet foreign policy goals? Why was it not ultimately successful? In answering these questions, the article traces the external and internal factors that inspired the Soviet initiative, including the EEC enlargement process, East-West détente, CMEA integra- tion, Ostpolitik, and Soviet and East European economic and political develop- ments.
    [Show full text]
  • Disinformation Campaigns
    August 2016 w . c e p a o r g Winning the Information War Techniques and Counter-strategies to Russian Propaganda in Central and Eastern Europe A Report by CEPA’s Information Warfare Project in Partnership with the Legatum Institute Edward Lucas and Peter Pomeranzev I WINNING THE INFORMATION WAR Acknowledgments This report, “Winning the Information War: Techniques and Counter-Strategies in Russian Propaganda,” is produced under the auspices of the Center for European Policy Analysis’ (CEPA) Information Warfare Initiative. Co-authored by CEPA Senior Vice President Edward Lucas and Legatum Institute Senior Fellow Peter Pomerantsev, it is part of an ongoing effort at CEPA to monitor, collate, analyze, rebut and expose Russian propaganda in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Previous publications in this series provided an analytical foundation for evaluating the methods and aims of Russian propaganda. This report extends that research, examining how Russian propaganda is being employed across the CEE region, the perils it presents and actionable counter-strategies for addressing it. In preparing this report, the authors conducted an extended assessment of the existing record of Russian, English and Baltic language literature on the subject of information warfare. They solicited written inputs from, and conducted interviews with, members of the scholarly, academic and expert community who are investigating specific dimensions of Russia’s “new” propaganda. Additionally, the authors solicited written and conceptual inputs through
    [Show full text]
  • Dartmouth Conf Program
    The Dartmouth Conference: The First 50 Years 1960—2010 Reminiscing on the Dartmouth Conference by Yevgeny Primakov T THE PEAK OF THE COLD WAR, and facilitating conditions conducive to A the Dartmouth Conference was one of economic interaction. the few diversions from the spirit of hostility The significance of the Dartmouth Confer- available to Soviet and American intellectuals, ence relates to the fact that throughout the who were keen, and able, to explore peace- cold war, no formal Soviet-American contact making initiatives. In fact, the Dartmouth had been consistently maintained, and that participants reported to huge gap was bridged by Moscow and Washington these meetings. on the progress of their The composition of discussion and, from participants was a pri- time to time, were even mary factor in the success instructed to “test the of those meetings, and it water” regarding ideas took some time before the put forward by their gov- negotiating teams were ernments. The Dartmouth shaped the right way. At meetings were also used first, in the early 1970s, to unfetter actions under- the teams had been led taken by the two countries by professionally quali- from a propagandist connotation and present fied citizens. From the Soviet Union, political them in a more genuine perspective. But the experts and researchers working for the Insti- crucial mission for these meetings was to tute of World Economy and International establish areas of concurring interests and to Relations and the Institute of U.S. and Cana- attempt to outline mutually acceptable solutions dian Studies, organizations closely linked to to the most acute problems: nuclear weapons Soviet policymaking circles, played key roles.
    [Show full text]