(11 of 11)
Except in Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America and West Germany, public fear of Communism has noticeably declined. The change in the public climate offers an opportunity to the reformist parties. If they actually do achieve power through elections, the test for the reformists will be to show that Communism can indeed be the liberating, uplifting force that Marx envisioned and not the tyranny that the Soviets and Chinese made it. To judge from all past evidence, it would be dangerous and foolhardy for any Western voter to bet his liberty in the expectation that this will ever happen. But if it did, would Communism still be Communism?
Legacy of Moscow
In a way, that question is really what the Moscow summit is all about, though perhaps none of those present in St. George's Hall would frame their purpose in such a transparent way. Certainly not Brezhnev, Kosygin and the other Russian hosts. Judging by the initial head-on assault against China, they have cast aside the promises made to many of the delegations and are determined to wrench from the parties the long sought writ of excommunication against Mao Tse-tung. It seems a reckless act, and having embarked on it, the Soviet leaders have little more to lose by also demanding from the conference an endorsement of the Brezhnev Doctrine —and gaining expiation for their invasion of Czechoslovakia.
That, too, would be reckless, for on neither China nor Czechoslovakia are the Russians likely to have their way at the conference. Communism has existed too long, embraced too many diverse peoples, adapted to too many local needs and seen too many second-and third-generation visions for the monolith ever to be reassembled again. The descendants of the 1917 Revolution are mutants, dedicated to making Communism —their Communism—safe in a world of diversity. It is disturbing that the men in the Kremlin do not understand that, or cannot accept it. In demanding that the parties of the world fall into line, they are virtually guaranteeing that the legacy of Moscow, 1969, will be a Communist world more at odds than ever before.