Abstract
During the fall of 1988, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze stated at a meeting of UNESCO, “The first commandment of our perestroika is the fundamental value of a human being, his life and dignity, and his social development.“1 No longer can Americans simply dismiss such words as meaningless rhetoric. The changes within the USSR in the field of human rights are profound. They have exceeded even the most optimistic expectations of many human rights activists. By every measure, Soviet citizens enjoyed more freedom during 1988 than at any time since the ascendancy of Stalin more than 60 years ago. These changes are particularly important to the scientific communities throughout the world.
No abstract ideas or principles imposed on people are worth the tears of a single child.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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Notes
Eastern Europe is a geopolitical definition of a region of countries of great diversity. The topography includes fertile agricultural valleys and barren hills, rugged mountains and coastal beaches, dense forests, large marshlands, rolling plains, and even an area of sand dunes. While most frequently considered as a political bloc, the countries have very different cultures, languages, and histories. Religious heritage and practice encompass large populations of Catholics, Moslems, and Orthodox religions and smaller populations of many other sects. Thus, the people are as different as the geography. Eight countries are considered to be in Eastern Europe based on their location and their embracement of communism since World War II. They are the so-called northern-tier countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany; the southern-tier countries of Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria; and two countries with unique political orientations, namely, Yugoslavia and Albania. Historians have coined Central Europe as an area of political cohesiveness of the past, while military planners consider Central Europe to be a area of potential military conffict between East and West. The communist countries usually considered to be in Central Europe are Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Hungary. Finally, in March 1988, Yugoslavia successfully convened a meeting of the leaders of the Balkan countries, reminding us that this geopolitical concept is still alive. These countries are Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, and Turkey.
“Cracks in the Bloc,” Newsweek, October 24, 1988, p. 30.
William Pfaff, “Reflections (Central and Eastern Europe),” The New Yorker, December 26, 1988, pp. 83–90.
“Cracks in the Bloc,” p. 30.
A discussion of the organization and the strengths of science and technology in Eastern Europe is included in Gyorgy Darvas (ed.), Science and Technology in Eastern Europe, Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988.
For elaboration of developments in Bulgaria, see Glenn E. Schweitzer, “Introducing Research Results into Practice: The Bulgarian Experience,” Technology in Society, vol. 9, 1987, pp. 141–155.
See, for example, “Eastern Europe Turns to West in Effort To End Technology Gap,” The Washington Post, February 28, 1988, p. H1.
Discussions of US policy are included in John C. Whitehead, “The US Approach to Eastern Europe: A Fresh Look,” Department of State, Current Policy No. 144, February 1988; and “US Policy toward Eastern Europe,” Hearings before the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, US Congress, October 2–3, 1985.
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© 1989 Glenn E. Schweitzer
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Schweitzer, G.E. (1989). Refuseniks, Dissidents, and Scientific Exchanges. In: Techno-Diplomacy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6046-7_8
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