Per chi soffia il vento dell'Est

The Wind from the East. Which Way Is It Blowing?

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

The subject of this article is the situation in Europe following the fall of the Communist regimes of the East and the crisis in the Soviet Union. According to the author, this phenomenon is based on three factors: the worsening of the economic crisis of the Soviet bloc, the growth of anti-Soviet and anti-Russian sentiment among local populations, and Soviet impotence in the face of change. Within this framework, Gorbachevism is more a consequence than a cause of change. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe double-evolution is in progress – "transformation from on-high" and "revolution from the grass-roots". In order to "save their skins", the ruling classes of Central and Eastern Europe have literally put their countries "on sale to the highest bidder". And the highest bidder is, without doubt, West Germany.
German reunification – for which the member-nations of the EEC have already started to pay the economic costs in terms of the exchange-rate of the mark – sets a whole set of problems for the West in general, and Europe in particular; one of the reasons being that the fall of Communist ideology and the regimes inspired thereby has led to the rebirth of nationalism, localism and interethnic tension. What is needed, therefore, is a new "Congress of Vienna", a new agreement among nations redesigning the map of Europe from now up to the year 2000.