Dialectic of the Split

It is reported that, in its Vietnam policy, the U.S. Government is for the first time making a deliberate attempt to exploit the Sino-Soviet split. Itistobe hoped that this report is true, not only because of the practical benefit that might result but because the attempt, whether or not successful, might yield some verified knowledge concerning the real nature of the split and its consequences, if any, for the non-Communist world.

We do know, of course, that a bitter factional dispute is going on between the Communist parties of China and the Soviet Union. We know that this dispute has spread to the world Communist movement. In some nations, the local party has divided into opposing tendencies or has split outright; in a few, the party has refused to take sides. In the world movement as a whole, the monolithic control exercised by the Soviet party from 1930 to 1956 has broken down— though the common estimates of the degree of independence and “pluralism” go beyond the verified facts.

JB

About the Author

James Burnham

Featured Tags

It is reported that, in its Vietnam policy, the U.S. Government is for the first time making a deliberate attempt to exploit the Sino-Soviet split. Itistobe hoped that this report is true, not only because of the practical benefit that might result but because the attempt, whether or not successful, might yield some verified knowledge concerning the real nature of the split and its consequences, if any, for the non-Communist world.

We do know, of course, that a bitter factional dispute is going on between the Communist parties of China and the Soviet Union. We know that this dispute has spread to the world Communist movement. In some nations, the local party has divided into opposing tendencies or has split outright; in a few, the party has refused to take sides. In the world movement as a whole, the monolithic control exercised by the Soviet party from 1930 to 1956 has broken down— though the common estimates of the degree of independence and “pluralism” go beyond the verified facts.