Changes in Eastern Europe and New Opportunities for American Policy

Abstract

THE Cold War in Europe has lost its old meaning, claims Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski in the opening sentence of his slim and thought-provoking book; he then proceeds to prove convincingly that policies which shaped the destiny of Europe in the i950's are badly outdated in the i960's, hindering, in fact, progress toward a reconciliation between the two antagonistic parts of the Continent. The tragic hot war in Vietnam has become the focus of American political activities, blurring our vital national interests in European affairs and blinding us to promising prospects of change in the crucial East-West relationships on the European political scene. Absence of a pressing crisis over the divided Germany tends to dull the political acumen of Washington and its sensitivity to this problem, a problem that cannot be solved by an indefinite perpetuation of the status quo but, rather, one that demands our careful initiative. Western Europe, though basking in the sunshine of prosperity and renewed confidence in its own national vitality, is still in continued need of the American shield of security. Last but not least, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have witnessed in the recent past significant and suggestive changes not only within the individual countries but also in their mutual relations and in their contacts with the West, changes that require a reevaluation of the American position and a new approach. Unlike many other scholars, Brzezinski sees these three paramount questions-the division of Germany, Western Europe's revival, and the release from the suffocating past of new energies in Eastern Europeas one closely interrelated problem, one that invites a fresh, integrated concept and novel, coordinated steps, free from the shackles of outmoded cliches.