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Show NEW BOOK SAYS RUSSIA CHANGING By CARLTON CULMSEE Dean, School of Humanities and Sciences Utah State University If you think Russia is changing, chang-ing, you are right. But you should beware of assuming that the changes are necessarily making Russia's leadership any more democratic or trustworthy. trustwor-thy. That is the warning of "The Iron Curtain," by Harry and Bonaro Overstreet. Here's a book all the Free World needs to help keep it free. , The notorious Curtain is, they reveal, growing thicker with double electrified barriers enclosing minefields, with more watchtowers and armed guards. Russia's post-Stalin "liberalization" "liberal-ization" is partly illusory. The leaders grant and withdraw privileges and partial freedoms, but only to shore up the old absolutism and the new ruling class. Except for sharing in a world - wide industrialization. Russia's changes from old Tsarist Tsar-ist motivations and methods are not as great as one might suppose. Old Russia had a similar paradoxical mixture of inferior and superior feelings, a strong nationalism, and a desire de-sire to be a world messiah. But, the authors point out, Russia reoriented herself under Stalin in World War II, shifting shift-ing the emphasis from world revolution to attain a worldwide world-wide communist society, to a rebirth of the ancient intense patriotism and fervor of "Mother "Moth-er Russia." The myths of a selfless crusade to make an un selfish, warless world have -been crumbled by Russia's and China's own actions. What the authors urge us to do is, first, immunize our minds to the terror of nuclear annihilation which leads many to yearn for faith In the communist-promise of a warless world under their domination; and second, to "pierce" the Curtain by every peaceable means we can, to show the people behind the barrier how the free individual fosters the free society. The book makes I specific proposals, and is illuminating il-luminating in many ways. |