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LAOS AND RUSSIA
It should be quite obvious, upon reflection, that the Russians will not be stiff-necked about reaching a settlement of the Laotian war.
In competition for supremacy in the Eurasian land mass, the two great powers emerging are Russia and China. And China today is in much the same position Russia was in the twenties and thirties: undeveloped, beset by internal economic difficulties, yet possessing a tremendous latent power. To China, the world is a potential battleground, for she has little to lose. The Russians, on the other hand, have tasted relative prosperity. They have seen the development of a burgeois society that owns and enjoys. They are no longer convinced that war with capitalism is inevitable, but that co-existanee can be a reality. To them, China is more a potential enemy than an ally. „ ,
Consequently, it can be expected that the Russians will rather easily accept a cease fire in Laos. They should have little desire to expand communism where it will inure to the sole benefit of their Chinese competitors.
The intriguing question is: why did the Russians place their weight behind the Loatian rebels at all? Was it because they were forced to in their quasi-alliance with China Or was it an attempt to feel out President Kennedy’s resolve, while restricting themselves to an area where a communistjdefeat would not be detrimental to Russia? We suspect it was the latter, and if so, the Russians should now have a clear idea of how vigorously and firmly President Kennedy can act. Events portend a change from the Eisenhower chain-of-coromand, golf course regime.
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