Aristotle distinguished between euphoria--ephemeral contentment-and eudaemonia--well-founded happiness. This profound philosophical distinction was somehow forgotten in the generally euphoric press coverage of the Geneva summit of Nov. 19-21, the first U.S.-Soviet high-level meeting in six years. This is the 14th full-fledged summit meeting between the U.S. and the Soviet Union since our recognition of the U.S.S.R. in 1933.
Print and broadcast media analyses of the three-day summit lacked what Diderot called the indispensable ingredient for rational discourse: incredulity. Of course, there were exceptions. An Israeli newspaper, for instance, bluntly described the results of the Reagan-Gorbachev talks as a "beautifully-wrapped but empty box." The Paris L'Express spoke of traditional "ephemeral summit euphoria [portending], as it did in the past, post-summit reglaciation in East-West relations."
The latest "Spirit of Geneva," the ectoplasmic fallout following the Geneva summit, warranted, it seemed, nine-tenths euphoria one-tenth eudaemonia. Public credulity and naiveté ran high.
For a more profound optimism to materialize, something more than the first ladies holding hands, or a "war of grins" between the two leaders, was required. Something more also was needed than the president's gift to Gorbachev of a Colonial Williamsburg Chippendale-style mahogany box with a silver top, plus a desk set of two pens carrying the theme "peace through communications." The Soviets' gift consisted of a set of bronze medallions in a leather case, each of which was engraved with the seals of the 15 Soviet "republics." They were beautifully wrapped….
However, not even five hours of "s glazu na glaz" (Russian for "tete-a-tete"--literally, eye-to-eye) private discussion, nor 10 more hours of plenary discussions around the felt-covered table in the villa of Fleur d'Eau and at other Lake Geneva shore points, was sufficient to produce substantial agreement between the two superpowers on the most irksome problems.
"Serious Differences"
It seemed, in fact, that the much ballyhooed summit ended very much as it had begun, with the same "serious differences" that had aggravated relations between the two powers before the summit. Not even the ultra-liberal, peace-activist leader of the "Rainbow Coalition," Rev. Jesse Jackson, could find a meeting of the minds with the Soviet leader. Their seven-minute conversation touched on, among other things, civil rights in the Soviet Union.
What follows below are the basic sources of tension and hostility which still remain, even though the jet trails from the two leaders' airplanes have since evaporated into the cold skies above the Swiss Alps:
1.Stated Soviet plans to Sovietize key regions of the world, ushering in the "inevitable" collapse of capitalist democracy. In fact, this "permanent feature" of Marxism-Leninism was expressed just days before the Geneva summit with the publication of the revised Soviet Communist Party Program, the first text since 1961, followed up by an exegesis of its contents delivered to the party Central Committee by Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
...
Read Full Article
|
