Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-30
The Red Economic Threat

II the Soviet Union we're a land OF
liberty, there would be no occasion for
Allen Dulles warning about It's eco
nomic growth. Instead, the world would
have reason 10 welcome and cheer the
development as something that could
help TO promote human betterment and
a prospecting international peace OF
freedom and justice.
Far from being bulwark OF lib
erty, however, the Soviet Union is a to-
talitarian tyranny run by handful OF
power-hungry and intensely secretive
conspirators whose ultimate objective is
to communize mankind and win do
minion over the entire globe. Naked
armed force, deceit, treachery, infiltra-
ton, subversion-these are among the
weapons they have used, and still use, TO
attain their ends. Anyone who thinks
otherwise had better ponder the fate Of
Hungary and all the other captive lands
behind the Iron Curtain.
Accordingly, In view OF the nature
OF the Communist system, Mr.. Dulles,
director OF our Central Intelligence
Agency, has not exaggerated In de-
claring that Soviet economic progress
constitutes "the most serious challenge"
the United States has ever faced in time
OF peace. In making this point, he has
not discounted the enormous threat i'm
plicit in the Kremlin's armed power and
scientific advances; but KhruShchev and
Company-in his judgment-want to
avoid a shooting conflict and to win
global domination with such weapons
as trade, aid and infiltration carried out
in Asia, Africa, South America and free
Europe. In short, as he sees the situa-
ton, ut is most probable that the fate
full battles Of the cold war will, In the
foreseeable future, be fought in the
economic and SubverSive arenas"
Mr.. Dulles has drawn a Somber pic
ture of how we'll equipped the Kremlin
is for such battles. Thus although
American productive capacity still is far
ahead In many respects, the Soviet
economy is growing at rate roughly
twice that Of ours. Moreover, since 1t
operates under a despotism that does
not have to seek ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
or worry much about public opinion, 1t
can be readily geared to policies of in
ternational infiltration and subversion.
Moscow has made effective use OF it, for
example, in Egypt, and in places like
Syria and Yemen, where RusSia's trade
and aid must be viewed as IAN invest
ment In disorder" calculated to make
trouble for the forces of freedom. Sim
ilarly, the Kremlin's stepped-up drive
for commerce with Western Europe
might easily become-if it succeeds
formidable weapon Of economic warfare.
OF course, as Mr.. Dulles and others
have pointed out, the men of the Krem-
lin cannot entirely ignore the wants
and diScontents Of the masses OF the
USSR. AS education spreads among
those masses, and as the Soviet eco
nomic machine continues to grow, the
Moscow dictatorship should feel mount
ing popular pressures to put that ma
chine to work to liberalize and improve
domestic living conditions. But this
possibility, though real enough, is likely
to materialize-if ever-only at a very
slow pace.
Meanwhile, in terms of the next
decade or two, the United States and
the free world at large must reckon
most seriously with Soviet internal and
external economic expansion. For the
threat implicit in 1t, as Mr.. Dulles has
warned, Is at least as great as the threat
implicit in the Kremlin's military might,
and 1t should sober all those Ameri-
cans who seem recklessly intent upon
scuttling our foreign aid and reciprocal
trade programs.