Berlinguer into the Breach

One hesitates—I certainly hesitated—to criticize Dale Vree’s reappraisal of Eurocommunism (“Up with Eurocommunism?” Feb. 16), for it implies an obvious political truth—that party names have no magic significance of their own, but take their meaning from the actions of those who use them. New wine can always be put into old skins, so long as no one takes the skins seriously.

Mr. Vree guesses that the Communist parties of Western Europe may be undergoing such a transformation, and he suggests that the Italian Communist Party be allowed to slide gradually into the Italian government as a test case. If the experiment is successful, it will weaken hard-liners in the Kremlin and ideologues at home. “Were Italy to develop an authentically democratic socialism . . . there would be a sort of ‘Czechoslovakia’ in the West—well insulated from Soviet aggression—to strike fear and trembling into the hearts of the autocrats in Eastern Europe . . . [Meanwhile] I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of the old, rigid ideological categories of cold-war vintage (and beyond) melt away . . . Conservatism, liberalism, and democratic socialism are . . . no longer mutually exclusive options. Given half a chance, Italy may demonstrate that not even Communism need be an exclusive option.”

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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One hesitates—I certainly hesitated—to criticize Dale Vree’s reappraisal of Eurocommunism (“Up with Eurocommunism?” Feb. 16), for it implies an obvious political truth—that party names have no magic significance of their own, but take their meaning from the actions of those who use them. New wine can always be put into old skins, so long as no one takes the skins seriously.

Mr. Vree guesses that the Communist parties of Western Europe may be undergoing such a transformation, and he suggests that the Italian Communist Party be allowed to slide gradually into the Italian government as a test case. If the experiment is successful, it will weaken hard-liners in the Kremlin and ideologues at home. “Were Italy to develop an authentically democratic socialism . . . there would be a sort of ‘Czechoslovakia’ in the West—well insulated from Soviet aggression—to strike fear and trembling into the hearts of the autocrats in Eastern Europe . . . [Meanwhile] I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of the old, rigid ideological categories of cold-war vintage (and beyond) melt away . . . Conservatism, liberalism, and democratic socialism are . . . no longer mutually exclusive options. Given half a chance, Italy may demonstrate that not even Communism need be an exclusive option.”