East-West Out of Control?

As the Communist order unravels at blinding speed, confusion looms

The old is dying and the new cannot be born. In the interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.

-- Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist philosopher (1891-1937)

The great variety of symptoms that confronted the Communists of East Germany and Czechoslovakia last week were not morbid, but they did carry the risk of metastasizing into something dangerous. As exhilarating as the rapid pace of change may be, the tight grip of party rule that seemed unshakable just weeks ago has loosened to the point of presenting both countries with the prospect of events slipping out of control. Though the revolution in...

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