(2 of 4)
If other Asian economies are less thriving, most are reversing the downward spiral. Indonesia, having bloodily saved itself from Communist takeover, now has to repair the intrinsically rich economy that Sukarno wrecked. Malaysia may yet fragment into its original pieces, but at least it has been relieved of the huge burden imposed by Indonesia's harassing little war. Prosperous Australia and New Zealand, though far to the south, now firmly consider themselves—and are accepted by Asians—as a part of Asia, and take a major hand in Asian councils. A U.S. observer summarizes: "The Asians are not thrashing around as much as they were even a year ago. Now, even if they're wobbly, they are essentially on their feet."
Pride & Breakup
In Europe, the good news has been obscured by the fact that one of its manifestations has been a sharp kick in the U.S.'s diplomatic shins: De Gaulle summarily threw the NATO command out of France. But it is a gesture that is, among other things, an expression of Europe's new and proper self-confidence. This new independence has only become possible under the shelter of U.S.-Russian detente. The relaxation operates on the other side as well. More and more, the satellite nations of Eastern Europe are asserting their independence of Moscow and reaching out toward their old neighbors in the West—and the U.S. is doing its best to encourage them. A big factor in this movement is a growing awareness among the satellites that conventional Communism—particularly when applied to an overall scheme designed chiefly to benefit the mother country—simply does not work as an economic system. The breakup began with Rumania's refusal to accept Russian directions at the 1961 COMECON meeting.
The resultant economic dialogue has lured some 500 Western firms to invest over $800 million in Eastern Europe, and every year the tide of Western tourists increases. West Germany's new Christian Democrat-Socialist coalition regime has made limited new East-West moves possible. While there is not yet any end in sight for Germany's geographical division, most East European governments have dropped the stultifying position that nothing can be discussed unless West Germany acknowledges East Germany as a sovereign state. This year Rumania defied the Kremlin to recognize West Germany—and both Hungary and Czechoslovakia want to follow suit.
Western Europe's Common Market is celebrating its tenth anniversary in a justifiably euphoric state of self-congratulation. Trade among the Six has increased 238% in those years, and the last internal tariffs will disappear by mid-1968. De Gaulle, who has kept Britain out, has at least brought stability to France, and his recent setback at the polls may reduce his room to maneuver mischievously abroad, forcing him to give long-overdue attention to social problems at home. More queasy is the state of Britain. Still, its economy has perked up a trifle, achieving its first substantial trading surplus in three years in the last quarter of 1966.
Amid Shouting, Bright Spots