The continuing collapse of the Iron Curtain

The past few weeks have echoed with the fading tremors of the Cold War. Continuing the legacy of activists who bucked the power of the Soviet arsenal, Ukrainians have unequivocally sent a message to Vladimir Putin that authoritarian suppression of representative government will not be exported to the former satellites, as it was in the days of Yalta.

Despite Russian efforts to the contrary, democracy and markets are beginning to flourish behind the old borders of the Soviet Socialist Republics. Lithuania is a superb case study: three-fourths of the economy is now privately owned, with aggressive plans underway for further privatization of the remaining government-owned assets within the next few years. The GDP is up from an already-healthy 6.9 percent to 9 percent, and significantly more confidence is placed in churches, schools, and the media than in the government. Fear of encroachment has been replaced with elite forces such as Iron Wolf, and the American model of free markets, liberty, and peace through strength is growing in popularity throughout the region.

For those of you who may not have seen Krauthammer’s choice column on current developments in the region, and their global significance, it is well worth a read.

He raises the greater problem of the belief in “democracy on one continent.”

Can it be fostered elsewhere? More pointedly, what are Europe’s responsibilities?

Is there, as Michael Novak argues, a “universal hunger for liberty”?

More to follow later…