The New Diplomacy

Idealism or physical prowess has undoubtedly moved some undergraduates to join the Crusade For Freedom, a nation-wide campaign to "life the Iron Curtain everywhere."

Others may have found the Freedom Declaration, which also manifests belief in democracy and a faith that "men derive the right to freedom equally from God," a bit too much to swallow. These people reject the Declaration for its literal meaning; in doing so, they fail to recognize the facts of cold war and the weapons cold war requires.

The Soviets have facility with these facts and these weapons which the West too often lacks. An outstanding example of their acumen is the Stockholm Peace Appeal; confirmed Communists and political innocents alike have signed this broad manifesto, aligning themselves with its eloquent plea for peace and the banning of the atom bomb. The Soviets not only collect credit for the Appeal but also claim, often very effectively, that all the signers are on their side.

It is this kind of propaganda that the West must counter, and to do so necessitates a readjustment of Western techniques. A campaign such as the Crusade for Freedom may seem alien to Western diplomacy, which has traditionally relied on Top-level negotiation rather than mass appeals. But in the present crisis we must measure propaganda by its effectiveness, not by its familiarity. Millions of Americans signing the Freedom Scroll will give now volume to the Voice of America, as well as needed propaganda material to American information centers abroad.

The Crusade will also collect funds to support Radio Free Europe, 'a private station broadcasting from Germany which supplements the reportorial Voice of America. R.F.E. beams speeches of exiled Eastern European leaders across the Iron Curtain, satirizes Communism, and broadcasts music and folklore new banned by the Rods. It is a mouthpiece of the democratic left, the exiles who legitimately governed most of Eastern Europe between the overthrow of the quisling governments and the Communist coups.

In the cold war of ideas, both aspects of the Crusade are eminently useful instruments. The Crusade is a first try, but precisely because it is, it merits support. We have too few propaganda weapons to be choosy about them.