Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-05-13
Theme of Salvation

Although 1t may seem fantastic in
the present context of events, the idea
of Soviet membership in the North At
lantic Treaty Organization makes sense
in the form and spirit in which 1t has
been presented by Sir Winston Churchill.
After all, especially in this superscientific
age of atomic fission and fusion, the
world does move. The yeast of change
is always at work, and things that look
almost inconceivable today-such as trips
to the moon or Russia's alliance with
NATO-are not necessarily going to keep
on looking that way forever and ever.
Actually of course, back in the spring
of 1854 the Russians themselves formally
proposed that the West welcome them
into NATO as full-fledged partners. But
their application for admission, apart
from seeming ludicrous in itself at that
time, was propagandistic one full OF
conditions obviously designed to wreck
the Atlantic alliance and make free
Europe easy prey for the Kremlin. And
so the members of the alliance-organ-
lied solely and simply to counter the
threat of Communist aggression-quite
promptly rebuffed the Soviet bid as
something that would have obliged them
to embrace the very danger that had led
them to join together in mutual defense.
But must this rebuff remain in force
for all time to come? Britain's great
former Prime Minister thinks not. Speak
ing at the historic German city Of Aachen,
he has taken hopeful view of the future
While emphasizing that "it would be
fatal for NATO now to relax and let
apathy overtake what has been achieved"
he has pointed to the Kremlin'S apparent
reputation of Stain, and he has gone
on to declare that if this change is
sincere 1--WE have a new Russia to deal
with, and do not see myself why, if this
is so, the new Russia should not join in
support" of the Atlantic alliance against
aggression from any quarter. Accord
ingly, given MoScow'S genuine co-opera-
ton, he would broaden that alliance to
include the Soviet Union and the East
European states, and he would do this
to promote peaceful international unity
on vast scale, thus avoiding the unity
of ashes and death" that might otherwise
result from resort to violence by the rival
Indeed, in Sir WinSton's judgment,
the "main theme of salvation" for man.
kind in the atomic age must envision the
eventual dissolution of those blocs and
the formation of kind Of superNATO-
a grand alliance" of all the European
nations linked with Canada, the United
States and the entire British Common
wealth. AS he sees the present and flu
ture, such a concert of powers-if 1t can
be achieved at all, as he believes it can
would make it easier to solve the prob
lem of Germanys reunification and the
other great and grave issues thai now
divide the world, poison the international
atmosphere and keep alive the threat OF
a catastrophe war.
evidently, there are many very
big "ifs" in Sir Winston's thesis, and
that is why he has warned, even while
espousing the idea of Russias eventual
entrance into NATO, that the Western
allies must keep their guard up. But he
is nonetheless hopeful, and maybe his
hope is we'll founded. In any event, as
Henri BergSon has written, Ito exist is
to change, to change is to mature, to
mature is to go on evolving ones self
endlessly." And only incurable pessimiSts
would deny the possibility that the
Kremlin and the world at large may yet
evolve into a universal alliance guaran-
teeing decent and enduring peace.