There are several lessons that can be learned from the experience of the Soviet Union. I think the first one, which is difficult for many Americans to understand, is that ideology is important.
The Soviet Union was not a real country. The countries that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union—Russia, Ukraine, Georgia—are real countries, but the Soviet Union was not a real country. It was an emanation of the ideology. So when the Soviet ideology, Marxism-Leninism, was discredited, the Soviet Union could not exist because it was not based on anything else.
It follows from this that an anti-human and immoral ideology needs to be challenged. Many people in the West took the view that because communist ideology appeared ridiculous, it was not necessary to criticize it. This was a big mistake.
Communist ideology, which appeared ridiculous from the outside, was very powerful in terms of its psychological effect on people in communist countries.
Therefore, it was important to challenge communist ideology not just on economic grounds but also on fundamental moral grounds. Such a moral challenge is necessary because communist ideology implies not just creating collective property but also—by depriving human beings of all freedom—changing the nature of man.
Dissidents
Another lesson from the experience of the Soviet Union is that it's important to support those people inside communist countries who defend human rights.
Many people in the West, including many in the United States, took the view that the Soviet dissidents were not important. They said the dissidents were very few in number, that they had no support in the country, and that they represented no one but themselves.
It is true they were few in number, but they represented the idea of universal morality and therefore had great importance.
As long as there were persons inside the Soviet Union who were ready to speak up for universal values, they remained a factor in the life of the country. And the example of the dissidents had an effect on many who were afraid to defend universal values themselves.
As a result, when the regime began to weaken, there were people who were ready to challenge it on the basis of values that had been preserved and respected even during the long years of totalitarian domination. Ideas discussed by small groups of dissidents in their kitchens emerged to become the dominant view of millions of people. As a result, the collapse of the Soviet Union became unstoppable.
Moral Reform
One final point is that once the regime collapsed, it was not possible to build a democratic society based on economic reforms without an accompanying moral reform.
In Russia, many of the reformers who took over after the fall of the Soviet Union thought it was enough just to change the economy and that everything else would take care of itself.
But in fact the economy was not capable of dictating values for society. Society was in need of values in order to restrain it and guide it. Because the moral aspect of change was neglected, communism in the former Soviet Union was replaced with rampant criminalization.
The moral values that were responsible for the destruction of the Soviet system needed to be the basis for the construction of a new society for the transition to democracy to be complete.
The Soviet Union is now part of history, but these lessons from the fall of the Soviet Union and the experience of post-Soviet Russia can help the peoples of China and Vietnam today.
David Satter is a Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute and Former Moscow correspondent for the London Financial Times (1976–1982)
This article was a speech delivered by David Satter on Jan. 23, 2010, at VHN, Vietnam Overseas Television, in Fountain Valley, California. Reprinted with permission Wei Jingsheng Foundation, www.weijingsheng.org
The Wei Jingsheng Foundation is dedicated to the promotion of human rights and democratization in China.
