When Lithuanian, Russian and other intellectuals were threatened by Stalin's regime, they found understanding and help in the United States, Canada, Germany and many other countries. Today, the world of profound change that we are having in must no longer tolerate fratricidal violence, barbarity and disdain for the principles of peaceful coexistance. Without the culture of democracy, without the culture of peace, the world will fall into anarchy. Just as the fall of communism brings into question the historical inevitability of that system, so the cultural and ethnic conflicts of the Balkans and other regions of the world demonstrate that ethics, the universal values of good and right, and not merely material advantage, must guide a liberal, tolerant and pluralistic democracy. Nor should anybody in sist on creating only a mirror image of their own democracy in another cultural setting.
Democracy has to be built in the minds of people.
If it is not, instead of democracy, there will be anarchy and corruption, and instead of a market economy, a black market and the mafia. While history unfolds at an increasingly rapid pace, existing values and norms have weakened. There is a revival of cultural and ethnic identities as a reaction to the adverse effects of globalization. Recently, the newspaper The European published an article quoting the remarks of visitors to Berlin's History Museum. East Berliners commented that West Berliners do not care about anything except money.