The Collapse of Communism. - Review - book review

Aerospace Power Journal, Spring, 2001 by Glenn Leinbach

The Collapse of Communism edited by Lee Edwards. Hoover Institution Press (http://www-hoover. stanford.edu/presswebsite/hooverpresS2.html), Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-6010, January 2000, 207 pages, $18.95 (paper).

There are several reasons for reading The Collapse of Communism, not the least of which is the impressive array of academics who, knowing communism well, have contributed to this collection. Several of its essays in particular serve as an important building block in expanding one's understanding of the demise of communism. This book should find its way to the bookshelves of people who appreciate the failure of one of history's most repressive forms of government but who are not necessarily well versed in the reasons for that failure.

Two themes emerge in this collection. One is that Western observers were caught off guard by the instability of the Soviet Union--and by its sudden demise. The other is that many Western communist sympathizers were more than willing (and still are) to shill for the communist state. The essayists who cover these two themes are disturbed by the implications.

In his brief essay "The Year of Miracles," Edwards sets the stage for what will follow. He lays out four main reasons for the fall of communism (its leaders' lack of faith in communist ideology; geography; communism's inherent stagnancy and corruption; and the growing influence of mass media during the 1970s and 1980s).

Richard Pipes's "The Fall of the Soviet Union," perhaps one of the most eye-opening essays, discusses several of the author's explanations for the demise of the Soviet empire and finally arrives at the one "decisive catalyst" that brought about the collapse of communism. In doing so, he anticipates some of the essays to come. Noting that the fall of the regime was brought on by "the utopian nature of its objectives" (42), he then explains the problems inherent not only in utopia itself, but also those in the Soviet pursuit of utopia. Finally, Pipes chastises Western academics who failed to see the imminent collapse.

Michael Novak's "The Silent Artillery of Communism" deals with communism's destruction of one of the most important aspects of life in a thriving society--human capital, specifically as it affects the economic world. He notes that "for communism, there is in man no internal source of dignity" (100) and that "it destroyed the human capital on which a free economy and polity are based" (113). Novak feels that the strength of personal will is stronger than any political system and looks toward a difficult but manageable transition from a repressive society to one that encourages enterprise and imagination.

Andrzej Brzeski follows with "The End of Communist Economics," in which he contends that "the economic system of the Soviet Union... was fatally flawed from the very beginning" (119), pointing out the differences between a free-market economy and one run by an oppressive government. He argues that the destruction of private ownership led to a lackadaisical attitude in the workforce, the members of which were no longer personally invested in the success or failure of the economy. He also faults the military buildup, which stole much-needed resources from the citizenry and did nothing to replace them. This buildup was brought about by President Reagan's application of pressure in the arms race, which increased the pressure on an already-suffering economy. Finally, Brzeski returns to Novak's argument that human capital--as well as the incentive to achieve and amass an inheritance to pass on--was erased, thereby stifling the will of the people to succeed and thrive.

The final essay (and perhaps the most compelling, from the standpoint of someone interested in the academic world) is "Judgements and Misjudgments" by Paul Hollander. He focuses on the inability of Western academics to see communism for what it really was--and is. After quoting intellectual after intellectual, each of whom heaps praise upon communism, he discusses several reasons for this blindness, stating that "Western misconceptions were shaped by ignorance, wishful thinking, favorable dispositions, and sometimes the manipulation of impressions and experiences" (177). Hollander discusses the favorable press given communist leaders, systems, culture, and even spiritual life. He also notes that many anti-communists also missed predicting the fall of the Soviet empire, blaming this more on the false impression created by the Soviets and the limited access to data. What frustrates Hollander is that those who defended communism tended to be more disaffected with their own society--which, he points out, led to a misunderstanding of other political systems--and seemed to overlook and discount the negative impact communism had on the "basic needs and dispositions" (197) of its subjects.

The Collapse of Communism studies one of the greatest events of the modern era through the eyes of academia, and the conclusions it draws should not sit well with us. The authors take a hard look not only at communism and the reasons it failed, but also at the reasons why its fall caught the West by surprise. In addition, Edwards scrutinizes former and current defenders of communism, pointing out the fallacies inherent in their perspective. We are better for having these essays and better for understanding their conclusions.