European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns William Safire the stars and stripes it s a dangerous time for soviet dictatorship cracks Are appearing in the Eastern european foundations of the soviet Empire. In Czechoslovakia 10,000 demonstrators marked the 20th anniversary of the crushing by soviet tanks of the Prague Spring with a March through that captive City shouting russians go Home in Poland workers dared to strike for a week trying and apparently again failing to gain recognition for a free Union to share Power with the despised soviet puppet regime. In the Baltic states tens of thousands took to the streets to note the anniversary of the secret Stalin hit Ler pact that led to the current illegal occupation of their countries. The soviet tactics in repressing the unrest has varied. Moscow s object is to maintain control by applying Only As much Force As needed. Thus orderly protest by the Long occupied czechs is met with disciplined restraint while the unpredictable fiercely nationalistic poles Are clubbed and arrested. Because Moscow thinks the estonians lithuanians and latvians Are irreversibly integrated into the soviet Union and because Moscow wants its own european Hong Kong to Deal with the common Market after 1992 the partly Russi fied Baltic states Are promised More autonomy. Gorbachev understands that the Price of saving his sick economic system is a mild dose of Market free Dom. He also knows that the Price of that limited Freedom at Home is the bubbling up of a desire for Independence in the soviet satellites. He must be aware that the most dangerous time for a dictatorship is not when the natural desire for free Dom is benumbed by total control but when the peo ple Are offered a Little breathing room and a Ray of Hope. That passionate consequence of perestroika is what we see happening now in the soviet Empire the centrifugal Force of nationalism is building tugging at the edges of Empire. To control that pulling away More soviet Force will be needed the thirst for genuine Independence is increased not slaked or appeased by sips of Freedom. The Day will come probably in the next . President s term when people in some controlled country will violently test the limits of soviet Domina Tion. To the few voices in the Kremlin who May say let Poland or Hungary or Czechoslovakia go it s More trouble than it s Worth the Sharp reply will come from the politburo member Vladimir Shcher Bitsky if you do there goes my  that is the great fear in Moscow. The Ukraine has never been properly digested in the soviet Union Mil Lions of its people welcomed the nazi invaders As liberators. When president Reagan asked to visit the Flora Lewis ukrainian National Church during the Moscow Summit conference his hosts had conniption and permitted Only a visit to a russian orthodox facility. Ukrainian nationalism is real it s much More than the feeling the proudest texans have for their state. The soviets Are tied to their conquests of Empire by the need to set an example in their most troubling Region in f. Scott Fitzgerald s phrase the Victor be Longs to the  what should the next . President do when Gorbachev or his successor decides to Roll in the rus Sian tanks to put Down a rebellion in the Empire the Wise course is not to wait until that time to affect the course of Likely events. He should set a policy now to give the soviet Union incentives to permit multiparty government secret ballots human rights free unions and ultimately self determination in East Ern Europe. When unrest blooms we cannot say that s none of our business to the human yearning for Freedom any More than we can swing to the other extreme with go ahead and rebel when we cannot even hold the rebel Coats. Because the free world s International interest is in the Extension not the containment of Freedom we should spell out a policy of tying the beginning of Western Trade Aid and financing to the Kremlin s willingness to permit achievement of the aspirations of let s use the hated phrase captive Peoples. Now is the time to state that policy for two reasons. One because the crumbling at the soviet Empire s edges has begun two because we Are in a Campaign when presidential candidates should be forced to focus on the great Issue of superpower relations. Bush and Dukakis probably disagree on their approach to the increasing unrest. It could also be that one or both has not worked out a detailed position on one of the first crises Likely to hit his administration. Therefore enough with the character questions now let s see if these characters have answers. C new York times beef Way to bring enemies around is by example there is still enough bad news to fill the headlines earthquakes tribal massacres terrorism and such. But something is happening in the world a movement away from the fist and the gun. It remains True in Many places As Mao tse Tung proclaimed that Power conies from the barrel of the  but the notion is also spreading that such Power has limited use and sooner or later brings Only unsatisfactory results. The cease fire Between Iran and Iraq soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan negotiations on Angola and Namibia renewed though As yet unproductive efforts for settlements in Cambodia and Between North and South Korea prospects of ending War in the Western Sahara frustration and fatigue with fight ing seem to be contagious. Dictators continue to fall the latest in Burma after a Long grim but Little noticed ordeal. Democracies newly established in the last few years though still buffeted by legacies of repression and corruption Are surviving with the exception of piteous Haiti. The most important historic development As the terrifying 20th Century nears its end is the decay of communism. Mikhail Gorbachev s Reform program in the soviet Union is an attempt to refurbish the system. But it is also an admission that it has not worked As promised or practice that it has been capable of monstrosities. China was already started in the same direction with growing momentum. No communist regime has come to the Point of renouncing its ideology or its Power Structure. But almost All communist regimes have at last renounced the claim to infallibility and acknowledged a need for serious change. The question of whether Gorbachev will succeed or fail or muddle on matters less than having reached this irreversible watershed. There Are inevitable consequences for the relations of communist states with the rest of the world. This is definitely favourable to free countries not Only in relaxing tensions and reducing the Dan Ger of War. It provides a demonstrable comeuppance for dictators and rigid ideologues of All stripes since it shows their methods cannot meet the aspirations of their people. The irony of Prague s suppression of attempts to Call attention to the 20th anniversary of the soviet invasion is strik ing. In 1968, Moscow used tanks to pre vent what Gorbachev says he is now trying to achieve in the soviet Union and indeed soviet police beat up rus sians trying to make the same Point in Moscow s Pushkin Square last weekend. But it is Only another example of How hard it is for regimes whose great Talent was to Clamp Down on their people to learn a better Way of governance. And Poland is again offering a dramatic example that Ming reluctant measures won t work either in shutting people up for the longer term or in Mak ing them produce enough to stuff their Mouths and shut themselves up. Further it is a reminder that each set of broken promises diminishes the value of new promises. People Don t forget. All this is Heady for democracies. It expands to the lie involving a notion widespread a decade ago that democracy is a luxurious form of government for the privileged few not to be expected by most of the world. More and More find it a  is reason for Pride in seeing How the Western Way with All its hassles Dis appointments and sleaze is again the Model in the Universal search for Hope and dignity not so Long after Many rejected it As the source of Bourgeois or imperialist oppression. There is also reason for sober concern. We need to remember that Success came in providing a better Model but that is a relative Standard. As information flows the warts the flaws and the harsh Side of Western societies become More evident too. The increasing rejection of communism and dictatorship does t mean other people want to be just like the Western democracies but that they want the Chance to do As Well or better. Vice president Bush has called for a gentler Kinder  America needs it for its own Sake but also because that is More important to National Security than Superior arms. It is the Best Way of forcing enemies around through the pressure of their own people. That is the new cold War to win for a gentler Kinder world. That too can be contagious. C new York times