History

Maybe it's just because we've been discussing upcoming Berlin Wall-related content here at the office, but I find Matt Welch's Reason cover essay, calling the 1989 defeat of communism in Europe, "the Unknown War" a little strange:

November 1989 was the most liberating month of arguably the most liberating year in human history, yet two decades later the country that led the Cold War coalition against communism seems less interested than ever in commemorating, let alone processing the lessons from, the collapse of its longtime foe. At a time that fairly cries out for historical perspective about the follies of central planning, Americans are ignoring the fundamental conflict of the postwar world, and instead leapfrogging back to what Steve Forbes describes in this issue as the “Jurassic Park statism” of the 1930s (see “?‘The Last Gasp of the Dinosaurs,’?” page 42). There have been more Hollywood hagiographies of the revolutionary communist Che Guevara in the last five years than there have been studio pictures in the last two decades about the revolutionary anti-communists who dramatically toppled totalitarians from Tallin to Prague (see Tim Cavanaugh’s “Hollywood Comrades,” page 62). And what little general-nonfiction interest there is in the superpower struggle, as Michael C. Moynihan details on page 48 (“The Cold War Never Ended”), remains stuck in the same Reagan vs. Gorby frame that made the 1980s so intellectually shallow the first time around.

Sure, it might be nice to see a Hollywood blockbuster or two about the Gdansk shipyard strike (unfortunately for producers, Lech Walesa wasn't quite as dashing as Che) but is there really a lack of end-of-cold-war awareness out there?

The "post-9/11 era" is only just starting to eclipse the "post-Cold War era" as foreign-affairs writing's most ubiquitous cliche. (If you're submitting to FP, please don't start your piece with either of them.) Indeed much of the contemporary debate over globalization takes 1989 as a starting point. 

It seems to me that the images of 1989 -- from Tiananmen to the fall of the wall -- are just as, if not more iconic today than anything from 1968, which seems to be Welch's nominee for history's most overrated year. The tsunami of Berlin Wall media content that's already starting to trickle out in advance of next week's anniversary should drive that point home. As should German Chancellor Angela Merkel's address to congress today in which she described how "the wall, barbed wire and orders to shoot limited my access to the free world" until 1989. How exactly is Welch proposing that we take this anniversary more seriously?

Welch's larger point is that "Americans are ignoring the fundamental conflict of the postwar world" as more and more of the U.S. economy is nationalized. But while these trends might not be moving in the direction Welch likes, it seems odd to argue that the free-market vs. government-control dialectic is being "ignored" given the number of times Obama's economic policies have been decried as socialist in the last year. 

GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images

 

It appears you can talk all manners of trash about the vilest and most murderous despot the world had ever known. Is there no justice?

Josef Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, sued a Russian newspaper for libel after it claimed Stalin personally ordered the killing of Soviet citizens. He requested an apology, and of course, some money. But alas, the courts threw it out and it appears it wasn't even a show trial. For shame.  Dzhugashvili has five days to appeal, thus saving the glorious image of his grandfather.

Stalin starved millions of Ukrainians to death during his attempt at collectivization, jailed and murdered dissidents and even those suspected of possibly being dissidents. He institutionalized the Gulag, killed every single other official from the beginning of the revolution and ended up ordering more deaths in one day than Pinochet did in his entire reign. He turned neighbors against each other and forced poor Soviet schoolchildren to read his feeble attempt at prose.

But Dzhugashvili doesn't think we need to bring that up.

The BBC reports that many think the libel case was a way for the Kremlin to try to rehabilitate Stalin's image.

The ruling further proves that you can criticize leaders in Russia all you want, just not the current ones.

DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images

When Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi goes on the offensive, great things happen for bloggers. He got worked up after a Spanish reporter asked whether he should resign for the rising scandal over his womanizing, including an escort who says she was paid to spend the night with him. Reuters reports Berlusconi's stunningly candid explanation for why he thinks he should stay:

"I sincerely believe I am by far the best prime minister Italy has had in its 150 year history (since unification in 1861)," Berlusconi said in televised news conference in Sardinia with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Now, though struggling with corruption, Italy is a democracy, but I'm pretty sure that's what Robert Mugabe says too. But back to Berlusconi, it gets better. He has never denied sleeping with the woman accusing him, but forcefully explained why he would never pay for sex:

"Never in my life, not even once, have I had to pay for a sexual encounter," Berlusconi said. "And I'll tell you why: for someone who loves to conquer, the greatest joy is the conquest, so I ask, 'if you pay, what joy can there be?'"

That must make his wife feel even better about her decision to start divorce proceedings. But the press conference still gets better:

When Berlusconi apologized to Zapatero for his lengthy answer, the Spanish leader said there was no need and it was "very interesting."

Bravo Silvio. 

ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images

As I mentioned before, a lot more could have gone into this week's list of Ted Kennedy's little-remembered foreign-policy achievements. One more example is his role in the creation of Bangladesh. In 1971, the government of Pakistan, with the support of the Nixon administration, sent troops into what was then called East Pakistan, in order to contain a secessionist movement. This created a massive refugee crisis as millions streamed across the border to India.

Although the situation got little coverage in the United States, Kennedy, who had a lifelong interest in refugee issues and was eyeing a run against Nixon, traveled to inspect the situation:

On his return, he issued a scathing report to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Refugees. The report, "Crisis in South Asia," spoke of "one of the most appalling tides of human misery in modern times."

"Nothing is more clear, or more easily documented, than the systematic campaign of terror -- and its genocidal consequences -- launched by the Pakistani army on the night of March 25th," he wrote.

"All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad. America's heavy support of Islamabad is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal."

The Nixon administration maintained its stance. But Kennedy's focus on the mass killings came as everyday Americans began to share in the outrage. For instance, Beatle George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, the first benefit event of its kind, was staged to further highlight the plight of Bangladeshi refugees.

Besieged, the U.S. Congress pushed through a bill to ban arms sales to Pakistan.

Kennedy received a hero's welcome in Dhaka in 1972, just after Bangladesh gained independence. Yesterday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recalled Kennedy's role, saying, "The people of Bangladesh will remember his contribution forever."

"Rezwan" of Global Voices has a great roundup of Bangladeshi blogger reactions to Kennedy's death, including "Unheard Voice," which posts Kennedy's original report to Congress.

Yesterday's New York Times obit of Kennedy devoted one paragraph to his international contributions, saying he "had less impact on foreign policy than on domestic concerns." That's probably true. But considering the impact Kennedy had in Chile, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Northern Ireland as well as the not-insignificant role he played in the debates over Vietnam and Iraq, this says more about the size of his overall legacy than anything else.

Photo: Ted Kennedy in Dhaka in 1972. From Flickr user faria!

This week's list looks at some of the late Ted Kennedy's notable international achievements. Of course, it's only a very partial list. See Joe Cirincione for Kennedy's impact in the nuclear disarmament debate or UNHCR commissioner Antonio Gutteres on his longtime advocacy for refugees. There's also a lot more to be said on Kennedy's Cold War diplomacy and work on immigration reform.

Given the number of areas of U.S. foreign policy where Kennedy helped shape the debate, it's actually a testament to his outsized impact on domestic politics that this isn't a big part of his legacy. 

There are so many great Kennedy anecdotes, but here's one truly bizarre one from Peter Canellos's book "Last Lion" about an awkward meeting between Kennedy, his advisor David Burke and President Lyndon Johnson, soon after Kennedy's return from a trip to Vietnam in 1968:

Finally, in the last week of January, Ted received word that the president wanted to see him.

Burke and Ted prepared their presentation for Johnson and then sat with him in the Oval Office. As Ted began his remarks about the failure of the United States to win over hearts and minds of the Vietnamese, Johnson cut him off.

"Now wait a minute, Teddy," the president drawled. "There's no need to rush on this. There was something I wanted to ask you first, and then we can get down to what you wanted to say."

"Yes, sir."

"Teddy," Johnson said, pausing for effect. "Do you want a Fresca?"

"Um, no thank you, Mr. President," Ted stammered.

As Ted tried once more to deliver his report, Johnson again interrupted and turned to Burke. "Dave, would you like a Fresca?"

"No thank you, Mr. President."

"Well, I'm going to have a Fresca," the leader of the free world announced. Then he turned to look at his butler, who was holding a silver beverage tray. "I'll ask you again, Dave, are you going to have a Fresca with your president? We'd enjoy it."

Burke caved. "Yes, Mr. President, I'll have a Fresca."

Johnson smiled. "Good, good. Now that's good." He turned to his butler. "David and I will have a Fresca." He waited several beats before adding, "Teddy doesn't want one. 

As the butler left the room, one of Johnson's dogs came bounding into the room and leaped onto Burke's lap. So in between sipping his Fresca, Burke sat in the Oval Office dutifully petting a dog. He couldn't have looked more like and 8-year-old boy if he tried, which was precisely what LBJ had in mind. Ted tried to suppress a laugh as he glanced at Burke.

From there, Ted tried resuming his remakrs, but it was clear to both him and Burke that Johnson had absolutely no interest in anything he had to report. Their command performance in the Oval Office had been just one more exercise in Johnson proving who was top dog. 

Something tells me this kind of thing wouldn't have worked on Kennedy later in his career.

STF/AFP/Getty Images

The Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun has a  long and at times contentious interview with Morris Jeppson, one of the two surviving members of the crew of the Enola Gay. 

Jeppson isn't a big fan of Barack Obama generally, particularly his views on nuclear disarmament. Interestingly, Jeppson, who was in charge of arming the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, seems to feel that the time has come for Japan to have nuclear weapons of its own:

So I've always endorsed Japan's position of let's not go for nuclear weapons. But I don't believe that anymore. [...]

The only thing that worked before now is deterrent. So if Obama gets us out of nuclear weapons, and Japan is sitting there with no nuclear weapons, Japan is at the mercy of North Korea and China, we are defenseless against North Korea and China and Iran. We already have a weapon and I trust they'll keep them under control. But Japan is heavily into the nuclear power industry, more than the biggest nuclear power in the whole world. When you generate nuclear power, I'm kind of on the fringe of that. You manufacture plutonium -- that's the Nagasaki-type bomb. So that's why North Korea wants it, Iran wants it, China has it, Pakistan has it. I think Japan with super technology could very, very quickly produce nuclear weapons and be prepared to use them if they had to.

Now that's what I am going to ask you -- that's my point of view for where Japan should go. Now I need to ask you -- how do you think Japan would be over the long range, of being a protectorate of nuclear weaponry? Would it not use it unless there is a good reason to use it? For me, I'd like to be reassured that Japan is a democracy and a world power and will protect what it has -- nuclear power and nuclear weapons if it can get nuclear weapons. Getting nuclear weapons would hold off North Korea for sure -- that would stop North Korea from ever using them -- that would involve Japan. I think it might be a deterrent to hold back China.

The whole three-part interview is fascinating reading, particularly the interaction between Jeppson and the Japanese interviewer over whether Obama should offer an apology when he visits Hiroshima in November.

Photo: Wikipedia

The audiotape of Italian Prime Minister talking with a professional escort who alleges he paid her for sex are embarrassing enough. But now it appears Berlusconi may have committed an archaeological crime:

In one of the transcripts of his purported conversations with Patrizia D'Addario posted on an Italian website, Berlusconi boasts to her about his sprawling villa in Sardinia -- complete with an ice cream parlor and artificial lakes.

"Here we found 30 Phoenician tombs from (around) 300 BC," the voice is heard to say.

The latest audio clip was posted on the website of L'Espresso weekly on Thursday and immediately raised the interest of the opposition and the archaeological community.

Under Italian law archaeological discoveries made on private property must be reported to authorities for inspection, cataloguing and possible excavation.

Archaeologists say that if Berlusconi's boasts are true, he may have stumbled onto a major find. 

Via Chris Blattman's spiffy new site, Strange Maps shares this Japanese map of the world from around 1850, just a few years before the U.S. Navy forced the country to open up to international commerce.