In his article, ‘On certain current international issues’, which was written by the American magazine Foreign Affairs, the former leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, presented the manifest of foreign policy that will mark his reign over the next 20 years.
Setting up of military bases
“I am not revealing any secret when I say that setting up of military bases in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia represents a permanent threat to peace because it leads to a legitimate distrust of the other side, in this case, Soviet leaders. Soviet leaders look at this, rightly in my opinion, as the policy of boxing, the military threat and aggressive attempt of isolation of the Soviet Union,” said Tito. If we compare this with the vision statements of the Kremlin in the past few years, we will see that the key issue between Washington and Moscow remained unchanged.
In the meantime, other problems arose, such as the issue of the US missile shield in Europe or South Korea, which further complicated the situation. The existence of NATO, noted Tito, made sense when the Alliance was established – during the reign of Stalin. As the factors responsible for the establishment of alliances disappeared, there is absolutely no justification for its continued existence, and especially not for its expansion and development. Due to Tito’s fundamental opposition to “block system” of foreign policy, a similar attitude applies to the Warsaw Pact, even though its “initiator” was a necessity of counterbalance to NATO. “I am confident that Warsaw Pact will disappear as soon as NATO does,” wrote Tito.
Solutions for the future
The Yugoslav leader proposed a collective security agreement, which would ensure peace and stability on the basis of trust between nations and states, which would still allow efficient solving of international problems. In order to succeed, it is necessary that the principle of solving international problems is based on the coexistence of states, regardless of political arrangements, or whether the government is under communist or democratic-capitalist regime. Interference in internal affairs, which in today’s political arena is mostly coming from Washington DC, is a major threat for Tito’s conception of international relations and “may lead to a new catastrophe for all mankind”. Josip Broz developed a political vision of the world that, except the socialist elements, overlaps with today’s efforts and beliefs in many segments. Tito’s diplomatic maturity was far greater than many others who are represented by a Cold War mindset. It took more than 30 years for the United States to change the attitude towards Russia (as successors of the Soviet Union), but it was short-term as well.
Distrust among world leaders
In today’s world, there is a lot of mistrust between the East and West. There is talk about another Cold War, and there are also increasing estimations of the possible outcomes of World War III.
In order to reduce the chances of a global conflict, today’s leaders lean towards political unions, military alliances, intercontinental free trade agreements and similar legal and administrative binding means, which are still based on block policies. The independence and neutrality, which Tito noted as the key to peaceful coexistence, are threatened again by blurring boundaries between nations and cultures and a new iron curtain between democratic and liberal West and traditionalist Russia in the East. The dissatisfaction that arises from the lack of independence is already manifested in the rise of nationalism and the so-called “populism”, the racial tensions and growing distrust of people in their leaders. Judging by 2016, it is certain that this decade will bring even bigger political shocks and changes. One may judge who was right – Tito or, more or less, everyone else.
(Source: N1)
