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Document No. 135: Speech by Gorbachev at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, July 15, 1988
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Document No. 135: Speech by Gorbachev at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, July 15, 1988 ——————————————————————————————————————————— Speaking to the PCC, Gorbachev by this time has begun to develop more fully some of his ideas about reducing world tensions, armament levels, and especially mutual hostility between the two major military groupings. His remarks represent something of a dress rehearsal, or perhaps an internal justification, for his famous speech at the United Nations on December 7.12 Among the many interesting comments he makes are references to the growing power of the European Community, which he says the Soviet Union had made a mistake in underestimating, to the necessity of building bridges with the new American administration after the difficult Reagan years, and to the paramount need to reduce not only nuclear but also conventional weapons—the only “usable” ones in a conflict. ____________________ […] [Recent developments] allow Socialism to be included more broadly and actively in the formulation of world politics, and to influence it more effectively and in a multi-faceted way, stimulating positive changes throughout the world. Above all, the new face of Socialism now taking shape will undermine the traditionalpretensesoftheWesternright -wingcirclesinexertingtheirdominatinginfluence in the world, an influence which they have maintained with the help of an image of theenemyasa“Communisttotalitarianmonster.”Theconservativefrontthatemerged in the West during the 1980s and was openly hostile toward Socialism, has begun to erode. Being realists, we cannot wait—as if for manna from heaven—for new administrations to take over the helm in the West, with new partners and more democratic alternatives; but, in fact, we can facilitate the possibility that such alternatives will appear. There is, for example, something of a paradox in the fact that, although several leading West European government figures maintain, shall we say, an even more reserved position in relation to the Socialist countries than does the United States, the business community of Western Europe, on the other hand, is beginning to come to us as if over the heads of the politicians. […] A great deal will be determined by how and where the process of West European integration acquires its power. For the foreseeable future, it is apparently a steady and pivotal direction of development for this part of the continent. […] We must openly admit that we were slow to determine the power and effectiveness of Western integration. We were lulled by the gentle sounds of [our] skeptical 12 For the text of the speech, see Vital Speeches of the Day 55, no. 9 (February 1, 1989). 607 pronouncements about the difficulties and hypocrisies in the European Economic Community. […] In the meantime, 1992 is not far off, when the formation of a single market for goods, services, and capital will give birth—judging by all appearances—to a qualitatively new structure of Western Europe, one that is not only economic, but also political and possibly military in nature. To the west of our Pact’s border, there is a new giant developing, one with a population of 350 million people, which surpasses us in its level and rate of economic, scientific, and technical growth. We could hardly say that we are indifferent to the political direction this process is taking, or to the forces which will predominate there—right-wing, conservative or moderate—or to its military tendencies and how strong they turn out to be. Under these conditions, we feel the demand for our own “European” action plan. It should be a goal of the internal development of our country, and at the same time, it would be a realistic and attractive one for the broad social forces of all of Europe. The concept of a “common European house” would seem to be the answer. […] The construction of a “European house” might include, for example, a pan-Balkan cooperative community, where Bulgaria and Romania would actively participate. Similar arenas of cooperation might be the Baltic states as well as central Europe. Finally, an important element in this concept is the building of bridges between the Warsaw Pact states and NATO, the gradual transformation of the relationship between them from a source of tension to one of fundamental stability in Europe. This is essentially because a fear is being expressed in the West: behind the idea of a “European house”: isn’t there a hidden attempt to break up NATO, to “excommunicate ” the U.S. from Europe? We take the position that Europe today is an inseparable part of the integral...