In a momentous meeting that will go down in history, US President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev have effectively declared an end to the Cold War following their summit in Malta. The two leaders, meeting aboard Soviet and US naval vessels in stormy weather, agreed to accelerate arms control talks and support the sweeping reforms transforming Eastern Europe.
The Malta summit, while brief, marks a pivotal turning point in US-Soviet relations and sets the stage for a fundamentally reshaped Europe heading into the final decade of the 20th century. Gone are the frigid tensions that defined the post-war era, replaced by a new spirit of cooperation between East and West. As Gorbachev later told reporters, “The world is leaving one epoch and entering another.”
Winds of Change Sweep Europe
The Malta summit comes amidst a backdrop of dizzying change across the European continent. Communist governments in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria have either fallen or initiated major reforms in recent months. The Berlin Wall, long a symbol of the Iron Curtain dividing East and West, has crumbled. Talk of German reunification, once unthinkable, is now a serious topic of discussion.
Gorbachev, the architect of perestroika and glasnost reforms that have unleashed the forces of change within the Soviet bloc, struck an optimistic tone about Europe’s future direction. “We are at the beginning of a long road to a lasting, peaceful era,” the Soviet leader told reporters. “The threat of force, mistrust, psychological and ideological struggle should all be things of the past.”
From Adversaries to Partners
For President Bush, the Malta summit presented an opportunity to establish a strong working relationship with his Soviet counterpart and shape the future direction of US-Soviet ties. Despite their divergent political backgrounds, the two leaders developed an effective rapport and mutual respect that will serve them well in navigating the complex challenges ahead.
“I expressed my belief that the arms race, mistrust, ideological conflict, uncertainty and unpredictability in relations between our two countries should be things of the past,” Bush later recounted about his discussions with Gorbachev.
The US president threw his full support behind Gorbachev’s reform agenda, recognizing that the success of perestroika was not only vital for the Soviet people, but for continued improvements in East-West relations. Bush administration officials now talk openly of the Soviet Union making a transition to a market economy and integrating with the West.
Shaping a New European Architecture
Even before the Malta summit, Bush signaled a major shift in US policy by strongly endorsing Western European integration efforts. In a speech in Brussels ahead of his meeting with Gorbachev, the US president called for “a significantly strengthened set of institutional and consultative links” between the US and the European Community.
The American position put Bush at odds with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who has viewed European integration with suspicion. Other European leaders, such as West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand, welcomed the US stance as crucial to the continent’s future stability and prosperity.
“We are aiming at something larger than our own country, and it is in that context that one should appreciate the full importance of Malta,” a senior US official explained about Bush’s endorsement of European integration.
On the ever-sensitive question of German reunification, Bush and Gorbachev sought to carefully manage the process in a way that satisfies the aspirations of the German people while assuring neighboring countries that a united Germany would not pose a threat. The formula agreed to in Malta calls for reunification to be “firmly linked to European integration and the NATO alliance.”
The Road Ahead
The post-Malta period will likely bring both new opportunities and fresh challenges for Europe and the wider world. While the ideological competition of the Cold War has faded, the task of building a new European security architecture and healing the divisions of the past remains formidable.
In the coming days, European Community leaders will gather in Strasbourg to chart the next steps in the integration process, including plans for economic and monetary union. A series of delicate discussions between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries are expected to focus on the future role and structure of the two Cold War-era alliance systems.
The success of reform efforts in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe is far from assured, and instability or reversals in the process could still disrupt the positive momentum. Nationalist and ethnic tensions, long suppressed by Communist regimes, threaten to resurface in unpredictable ways.
Yet for all the potential pitfalls that lie ahead, the Malta summit will be remembered as the moment when the United States and the Soviet Union took a decisive step away from the hostility and distrust of the Cold War. In embracing change and committing to work together in constructing a new Europe, Bush and Gorbachev have opened the door to a more hopeful future.
