Neither capitalism nor socialism is ready for the challenges of the new century and the United States should usher in a 'new generation' Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe, according to Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.
Speaking yesterday to a small gathering of Polish-Americans and in an interview with The Dartmouth, Walesa, the Nobel laureate and Montgomery Fellow in residence, emphasized the need for a heightened American role in foreign policy and the daunting challenges facing his own country.
Catapulted to the world stage in 1980 during his struggle against Communist rule in Poland, Walesa seemed just as comfortable with Ivy League luxury and using the Internet as among the Gdansk shipyard workers whose efforts to form independent trade unions lent him his original fame.
"There are no world leaders that have come up with a vision for a wider world because they only care about being reelected," he said.
"Right now all the world is searching for something new. I think none of the existing systems will survive in the 21st century, at least as they are currently practiced. Either we have to reform the existing systems of capitalism and socialism, or invent a new system."
A symbol of the transformation from the Cold War to the post Cold War world, Walesa said he is just as ambivalent about the newest trend in international relations -- globalization -- has to offer as he was about Communism.
"The more powerful play it against the less powerful. In certain cases, globalization has been used against the best interest of poorer nations. That's why many poor countries fear globalization," he said. "I think we shouldn't start with globalization, but start with continentalization."
Walesa, who exudes bounds of energy, was quick to emphasize the newness of the 21st century world, and to promote an internationally active Poland.
"A new era has started. The end of Communism put an end to the era of land, where people fight over territories. Now a new era of the air has set up -- of ideas, the intellect, the internet, everything that will allow us to move forward."
"It's inevitable that Poland will form close relationships with Europe because of the Internet and the ecology that constantly crosses borders," he said. "We will take our position comparable to how we present ourselves. Which is not very exciting. But peaceful."
Though Walesa's support in Poland is currently low, he remains a darling among foreign leaders for his contribution to the peaceful collapse of the Soviet bloc. At home, he remains an often-cited expert on Polish politics.
In 1990, Walesa was swept into the presidency with 80 percent of the vote, making him Poland's first democratically elected leader. But his popularity declined rapidly, and he lost his bid for reelection to a former Communist by a narrow margin. During his third candidacy, he garnered only about one percent of the popular vote.
As president, Walesa introduced capitalism and other political reforms to the crumbling country and received one of the first invitations to join an expanded North American Treaty Organization. He currently heads the Lech Walesa Institute, whose aim is to advance democracy throughout Eastern Europe.
Throughout the afternoon, the graying Walesa comfortably referred to his achievements, among which are his more than 100 honorary degrees and major prizes. He also did not hesitate to criticize his one-time political opponents.
"I think I have achieved too much for one person," he reflected.
Referring to current Polish president Aleksander Kwasiewski, Walesa said: "He's a good administrator, he's not a good leader. I had to make a lot of important decisions, whether we would join NATO, how we would get other countries to forgive our debts. I'm sorry he was elected because if I had stayed in office, I would have achieved much more for Poland."
Speaking in his characteristically matter-of-fact style, Walesa said that the United States plays an inadequate role in world affairs, and that as the world's only superpower it should encourage the reorganization of groups like NATO and the United Nations.
"I am disappointed. The United States doesn't want to be the real leader in the world," he said.
Citing Poland's frighteningly high levels of unemployment, Walesa said the current situation in Poland is more complicated than could have been foreseen and that capitalism has created problems of its own.
Walesa's patriotism also became apparent, as he said he could never leave the beautiful land where he encountered his first loves and enjoyed his first dates.
But that patriotism also seeped into his discussion about the Polish contribution to the Holocaust. Visibly angry, he said: "At the moment it actually happened, Poland wasn't Poland. It was under Nazi occupation. In Poland, like in any nation, you have some villains that should be punished and condemned. But you shouldn't forget that there were some bad people among the Jews and other nations."
He said he believed the West should apologize for not listening to Poland's 1939 warning that a second world war was imminent.
Addressing the legacy of Solidarity, Walesa said the movement has achieved its aim to topple Communism and establish democracy. He said Solidarity's last goal, to reunite the 10 million supporters who gave the movement its strength, should be left to a new leader.
