The lessons of 1989

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was a watershed event for global freedom.  The data from Freedom in the World, the annual report on the state of global freedom published by Freedom House, give vivid evidence of the degree of change.  From a region that stood as an undifferentiated mass of unfree societies, what was then known as Eastern Europe has been transformed into a democratic success story.  The countries of Central Europe and the Baltic region are counted among the world’s stable democracies and today serve as an important soruce of support for democratic dissidents in repressive environments.  Likewise, the countries of the Balkans have achieved the status of democracies after difficult years of  civil war, mass  killing,  and ethnic cleansing.

The events of 1989 were thus unique, revolutionary, and inspiring.  The idea of communism as a legitimate socioeconomic system that represented an alternative to free-market democracy was revealed as an utter fiction. The thesis that revolution would invariably be prosecuted through the barrel of a gun was demolished, as country after country achieved freedom through strikes, civil disobedience, and the voluntary surrender of power by leaders who had come to recognize the futility of one-party rule. The East European revolution provided a showcase for an impressive generation of   democratic leaders: Lech Walesa and his Solidarity activists; Vaclav Havel and fellow Czechoslovak intellectuals; and lesser-known democrats in the other communist societies. And, of course, the example of the satellite countries helped propel similar processes in the Soviet Union, where Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of openness and reform had already provoked a chain of events that would lead to the Soviet system’s final collapse.

Unfortunately, the results of 1989 are not entirely positive. While the satellite countries of Central and Eastern Europe have achieved independence and democracy, the countries of the former Soviet Union have been unable to surmount their totalitarian legacy.  The post-Communist world has developed along a two-tiered pattern, with the satellite states developing the institutions of democratic governance, free expression, and civil liberties, and  many of the countries that emerged from the Soviet Union succumbing to forms of single-party rule, press censorship, corruption, and outright thuggery.  

Especially disturbing is the emergence of a reinvigorated and adaptive form of authoritarianism, a much more modern and dynamic system than the exhausted Leninism that prevailed in Communism’s final years.  As elaborated in Russia, this revivified authoritarianism combines elements of the capitalist market and broad private freedoms with sophisticated methods of  media control, the marginalization of the political opposition, and outright repression against potential adversaries.  As we take note of the very real achievements of 1989, we ignore the less positive dimensions of that year’s legacy at our peril.  

We should also use this historic moment to reflect on the role that the United States and its democratic allies played in the “long twilight struggle” of the Cold War.  Of course, the United States made  some serious mistakes during those 40-plus years, most notably in irresponsible talk of “liberation” during the struggle’s early period.  In fact, though, while we did not use the “l” word in our formal diplomatic vocabulary after the failed Hungarian Revolution,  we never abandoned the ultimate objective of freedom for the satellites.  We showed what was for Americans an unusual patience in keeping the faith through many years.  We made small but important gestures, like refusing to recognize the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states.  We maintained funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the face of strong Soviet protests. When a freedom movement with broad national support did come to the surface, as Poland’s Solidarity trade union did in 1980, the United States provided material and moral aid.  We did all this even as we conducted serious negotiations over nuclear arms and other critical strategic issues with a thoroughly militarized Soviet Union.  

We now find ourselves at another moment when the enemies of democracy present a challenge to the world.  For the United States, then, the lessons of 1989 are altogether relevant.  First, we are in the struggle for the long haul.  Second, our rhetoric should not exceed our capability to help.  Third, our values demand  solidarity with those who are challenging repression, even if expressed   obliquely or through sources outside the government.  Fourth and finally, the Cold War experience is a stark reminder that engagement and the promotion of human rights and democracy are mutually reinforcing, and not mutually exclusive.  

Arch Puddington is Director of Research at Freedom House.