Extrapolating the Zig

NINETEEN SIXTY-THREE may well go down in history as the year in which more unwarranted assumptions were made about the nature of Communism and its developmental tendencies than in any year since the Bolshevik Revolution. Beginning with the phase of “deceleration” in the wake of the Soviet attempt to penetrate the Caribbean and radically alter the balance of power in this hemisphere, talk about a “community of interests” between the United States and the Soviet Union rapidly began to gather momentum: the U.S. and the USSR have a “common interest” in restraining Castro and his henchmen; the two “superpowers” really have to worry about an ascendant and aggressive Red China, and may (in the not-too-distant future, it is implied) well join hands to prevent this disturber of the peace from expanding; what’s more, we and the Soviets are heading for the same ultimate goal anyway, and will probably “converge” at some point down the road. It all adds up to “détente,” the fruits of which we are alleged to be reaping now, and which, if it lasts long enough, without being upset by all sorts of “hawks” and “hard-liners,” may well signify the “end of the Cold War.”

The Realities of World Communism, edited by William Petersen. Prentice-Hall, $3.95

About the Author

Richard V. Allen

Mr. Allen is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was the national-security adviser to President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1982, the chief foreign-policy adviser to Reagan from 1977 to 1981, and the foreign-policy coordinator in the 1968 presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon.

Featured Tags

NINETEEN SIXTY-THREE may well go down in history as the year in which more unwarranted assumptions were made about the nature of Communism and its developmental tendencies than in any year since the Bolshevik Revolution. Beginning with the phase of “deceleration” in the wake of the Soviet attempt to penetrate the Caribbean and radically alter the balance of power in this hemisphere, talk about a “community of interests” between the United States and the Soviet Union rapidly began to gather momentum: the U.S. and the USSR have a “common interest” in restraining Castro and his henchmen; the two “superpowers” really have to worry about an ascendant and aggressive Red China, and may (in the not-too-distant future, it is implied) well join hands to prevent this disturber of the peace from expanding; what’s more, we and the Soviets are heading for the same ultimate goal anyway, and will probably “converge” at some point down the road. It all adds up to “détente,” the fruits of which we are alleged to be reaping now, and which, if it lasts long enough, without being upset by all sorts of “hawks” and “hard-liners,” may well signify the “end of the Cold War.”

The Realities of World Communism, edited by William Petersen. Prentice-Hall, $3.95

About the Author

Richard V. Allen

Mr. Allen is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was the national-security adviser to President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1982, the chief foreign-policy adviser to Reagan from 1977 to 1981, and the foreign-policy coordinator in the 1968 presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon.