First Published: The Call, Vol. 5, No. 24, October 18, 1976.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The second televised debate between Ford and Carter vividly revealed the policies of appeasement practiced by the leading sections of the U.S. ruling class towards Soviet social-imperialism. Under the signboard of “detente,” both superpowers have been trying to cover up the growing war preparations. At the same time, they are contending with each other furiously to expand or maintain their spheres of influence. This contention is bound to lead to a world war.
During last week’s debate, Ford, in a revealing moment, blurted out: “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” This attempt to legitimize Soviet expansion may bring back memories to the older generation of the late 1930s when Hitler was arrogantly expanding into Austria and Czechoslovakia. The Western powers, especially Britain’s Chamberlain and France’s Daladier, preached acceptance of German expansion on the grounds that, once appeased, Hitler’s appetite would be satisfied or driven towards the then-socialist Soviet Union. The result of this imperialist treachery is well known. It only hastened the beginning of World War II.
Today, the U.S. imperialists are practicing the same treachery in regards to the Soviet Union. Ford’s comments around Eastern Europe follow from the Helsinki Agreements and the Sonnenfeldt doctrine, which grant Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union as their private sphere of influence in hopes that the Soviet appetite for expansion will be satiated or else directed toward socialist China. Ford hopes that by striking such a pose, Brezhnev will respond in kind and accept Western Europe as property of the U.S.
Ford’s appeasement policies reflect his position as the chief representative of the monopoly capitalists who cannot oppose imperialist expansion because they themselves are imperialists and expansionists. These policies cannot lead to permanent peace but only accelerate the drive towards war.
On the other hand, the peoples of Europe, both East and West, will never accept “detente” or the Sonnenfeldt doctrine of superpower spheres of influence. The sharpening contention between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Europe is arousing increasing resistance from the European peoples themselves.
The Ford-Carter debate was a self-exposure on the part of the U.S. imperialists. Rather than covering up Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe as planned, Ford’s words only served to focus the spotlight more clearly on Soviet social-imperialism and the sharpening contention between the two superpowers.