This process of acceleration is not limited to the East-West power equation. New dynamic forces of contemporary history are at work worldwide. Freedom, democracy, market forces, a powerful human imperative aspiring towards free individual and collective choice, human creativity - all of these riding on the fast train of modern technology. They are manifestations of Western political philosophy and most of them derive from Western values. In this systemic struggle, these latter forces are today losing out.
Oppressive regimes are on the wane worldwide.
In the East as elsewhere, the dialectics of power are resolved in a quest for more freedom. Communism is losing out, not only with its ideological connotations, but in its lack of ability to satisfy the individual and collective needs of large post-industrial societies. Communist regimes stand in the way of evolution, of growth, of the knowledge revolution, of the full realisation of human potential. Change in the East thus follows an implacable historical logic. The status quo cannot be restored, nor can it be temporarily patched up.