Milford chronicle., 1955-09-23
THE NEW LOOK" IN EAST-WEST
RELATIONS

The SO-calIed new look IN EaSt-W est
relations, which was unveiled officially at the
Geneva Summit conference, has two sides to
it. On one side-the superficial one-there is
an amazing amount of sweetness and light.
The lavish and unprecedented party which
Premier Bulganin gave for Western diplo-
mats had a carnival atmosphere. u. 5. farm
ers have visited Russia and Russian farmers
have visited here, with hospitality relgnlng
supreme in both cases. Russia has announced
plans for not only permitting but encourag
ing Western tourists to visit Moscow and
various other centers. The top Russians, like
their counterparts across the Iron Curtain,
have again and again pledged their dedlca-
ton to peaceful co-existence. The bluster and
the arrogance of the Stain era have largely
disappeared
On the other side--the fundamental side
there has as yet been no indication that the
basic differences between East and West are
in the process of successful reconciliation.
For example, the Russians are holding
firm to two. goals which are unacceptable to
this country. First, and foremost, they want
NATO to be disbanded. 1t would be replaced
by new and purely European security pact
The u. S. then, according to the Russian
plan would withdraw its forces from Eu-
rope and dismante its bases-including
those in North Africa and the Middle East
as we'll The advantages that would accrue
to Russia are too obvious to need explana-
ton, Second, they want Formosa to be given
to Red China and Red China admitted to
u. N. membership.
The American position was again made
clear by President Eisenhower, in his major
policy address before the American Bar AS
sociation. Three points were stressed. First,
Germany must be reunited Second, Russia
must cease to dominate her satellites. Third,
there must be an end to Russian-backed eff
forts to subvert and conmuniZe other ma
tions. None of these absoluteS, obviously,
fits in with Russian ideas.
1t may be that the best chance for con-
crete progress, even though of a limited
nature, lies in the prospects for some dis
armament. There are four plans here. The
u. S. backs the dramatic Eisenhower pro-
gram which would permit free aerial inSpec-
tions by the powers of any and all military
and related installations. Russia wants to
limit inspection to certain major ports and
bases. England proposes that inspections,
az first anyhow, be confined to the East
West forces facing each other in Europe.
The French plan is based on reduction of
national military budgets. Out of all this,
some common ground for successful nego-
tlation may be found.
1t is possible finally, that the real achieve
ment at Geneva was of a somewhat lntang
ible nature The conference should not be
considered a failure because no specific
agreements were reached. The Soviet threat
remains and will remain so long as Russia
has powerful war machine nuclear arsenal,
and ruthless men to run it. Moscow's new
look has given Washington the opportunity
to think of the menace as a long-range prob
lem and not as series of recurrent crises.
Now, undoubtedly, period of trading and
bargaining on a global scale is about to
begin.
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