Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century (65 page)

Similarly, a look at the events of 1979 leads us to appreciate the myriad forms that counterrevolutions can assume. Deng Xiaoping changed China’s course through stealth and subtlety. Khomeini and the Afghans chose the path of violent uprising, the sudden transformative release of pent-up aggression. The only certain thing is that political and economic trends do not travel in straight lines. Yet if the experiences of 1979 suggest one conclusion, it is that we should never underestimate the power of reaction.

The twenty-first century is already witnessing an astonishing rate of social change. Genetic research promises enormous improvements in health and agriculture. Urbanization, and the rising standards of living that accompany it, continues apace. The rise of the Internet and mobile telephony accelerates the circulation of knowledge, eroding the tyranny of distance and transforming our notions of privacy and community. The spread of electoral democracy, respect for basic human rights, and advances in the status of women and sexual minorities are making remarkable strides. There are those who cite evidence of deepening secularization in some parts of the Western world and East Asia as additional proof of positive social evolution.

Yet important parts of the 1979 story argue strongly against any streamlined, simplistic view of historical progress. The huge power of genetic engineering already inspires fears of “Frankenfoods” and cloning. New communications technologies empower extremists as well as democrats. “Hacktivists” use the Internet to stage guerrilla wars against governments or corporations, while those same governments and corporations are finding that cyberspace also offers wonderful opportunities
for surveillance or the exploitation of private data. It is not hard to imagine how ecological depredation and the threat of climate change could spawn radical new political movements—and perhaps even millenarian faiths. It is equally possible, of course, that the confessional fervor that has left such a strong imprint on the era since 1979—the year that also saw the founding of the Moral Majority, the vehicle of evangelically inspired political activism that dramatically affected America’s political culture—could suddenly ebb and give way to something else, as future generations revolt against the excesses of their predecessors. Yet this is likely only if the advocates of the new rationalism can find satisfactory answers to the nagging metaphysical questions or forge new sources of identity that fulfill deeply rooted human needs as effectively as the old faiths.

The story is still playing itself out. But as I write these words, the political experiments of 1979 continue to define our world. The woman in the Kabul postcard lives in all of us.

This book has been quite a journey, and I’ve been aided in it by some fine scholars and journalists who have gone before me. I’m particularly indebted to a set of remarkable writers who have chronicled the lives of this story’s protagonists: George Weigel on John Paul II, Baqer Moin on Ayatollah Khomeini, Ali Rahnema on Ali Shariati, John Campbell and Hugo Young on Margaret Thatcher, and Ezra Vogel on Deng Xiaoping.

I owe particular thanks to the men and women who allowed themselves to be interviewed about their own experiences: Akbar Ayazi, Adam Boniecki, Bao Pu, C. K. Feng (Feng Zhigen), Halina Bortnowska, Jeff Muir, Jim Laurie, John Dolfin, John Fraser, Kanan Makiya, Kourosh Rakhimkani, Mohammad Hassan Kakar, Mohsen Sazegara, Norman Tebbit, Qian Gang, Rong Zhiren, Simon Heffer, Thomas Barfield, Tom Gorman, and Radek Sikorski.

I have also benefited hugely from the good advice and editorial counsel of my friends and colleagues at
Foreign Policy
—above all Susan Glasser, whose journalistic skill and editorial savvy I value as much as her friendship. Blake Hounshell, Benjamin Pauker, Charles Homans, Christina Larson, and Isaac Stone Fish have all blessed me with their know-how. My indefatigable assistants, Arianne Swieca and Neha Paliwal, kept the trains running on time.

At
The New York Review of Books
, I am deeply grateful for the guidance I received from the inestimable Robert Silvers, an avatar of fine literary style and editorial good sense. I am also much obliged to Hugh Eakin and Sascha Weiss for their countless good deeds.

I owe a special debt to Scott Moyers, who helped to bring this book to life. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Lara Heimert of Basic Books, the
best editor in the book business. My sincerest thanks also go to Andrew Wylie and Adam Eaglin. Richard Samuels, Director of the Center for International Studies at MIT, provided invaluable organizational support and access to a peerless intellectual environment. Kourosh Rakhimkani, Thomas Barfield, and Odd Arne Westad all helped enormously by sharing their thoughts on early versions of the manuscript.

Fortune smiled upon me in the form of a fellowship from MUSE Magazine, which enabled me to spend a semester teaching at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong. I am deeply indebted to Frank Proctor of MUSE for sponsoring the fellowship and to Ying Chan, JMSC’s indefatigable director, for hosting me. I am also grateful to the Center’s staff and students, especially Gao Yubing, Doreen Weisenhaus, Gene Mustain, Doug Meigs, David Bandurski, Natasha Khan, Kylie Chan, Elizabeth Cheung, Ng Pando, and Celine Zhang.

During my stay in Hong Kong I greatly benefited from conversations with Liu Kin-Ming, Jean-Francois Huchet, Tom Mitchell, and Ilaria Sala.

An intrepid band of research assistants around the world provided crucial help at various stages of the project: Lukasz Krzyzanowski in Warsaw; Li Li in Hong Kong; and Nicholas van Beek and Alexis Zimberg in Washington, DC. Kristin Deasy and Hanna Trudo lent a helping hand with fact-checking. Jessica Yellin offered a much-appreciated bit of freelance proofreading.

Roderick MacFarquhar offered useful advice at a critical juncture, and Rory MacFarquhar shared helpful background about the work of his mother Emily, a remarkable correspondent who was a member of the reporting team from
The Economist
that visited China in 1979. Nancy Hearst, Barnett Rubin, Orville Schell, Ted Plafker, and George Weigel all responded graciously to requests for information. Helena Openchowski provided urgently needed assistance with Polish translation. Felix Corley helped out by pointing the way to some highly relevant documents.

I would not have been able to write this book without the intercession of Jeff Gedmin, first at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, then at Legatum. I am deeply grateful to Jeff for continuing to believe in me.

I continue to treasure the experience of working with the fine journalists at RFE/RL, starting with the remarkable John O’Sullivan, who was also good enough to share some of his experiences of working with Margaret Thatcher. Among the colleagues who contributed insights to this book are Golnaz Esfandiari, Gregory Feifer, Akbar Ayazi, Hossein Aryan, Muhammad Tahir, and Daud Khan.

I began this project during my stint at
Newsweek
, where I had the luck to work with an unrivaled group of brilliant reporters. Several of them contributed to this book, in ways both direct and indirect. Fareed Zakaria, my editor at Newsweek
International, gave crucial encouragement and advice; a better sounding board would be hard to find. Others include Rod Nordland, Christopher Dickey, Jeffrey Bartholet, Akiko Kashiwagi, Kay Itoi, Hideko Takayama, Fred Guterl, George Wehrfritz, Marcus Mabry, Nisid Hajari, Tony Emerson, Mark Miller, Vladimir Volkov, and Maziar Bahari. Melinda Liu, that paragon of the Beijing press corps, shared valuable advice and useful contacts.

Finally, I must thank a number of good friends who provided moral support, occasional psychotherapy, and miscellaneous practical assistance. At the top of the list is Anne Applebaum, who has helped me in so many ways that I have now lost count. I also want to make special mention of Edward Lucas and Cristina Odone, whose friendship and advice were invaluable. Others include Andrew Solomon, Ann Kjell-berg, Dexter Filkins, Diane Zeleny, Benjamin Seiver, Bill Putnam, Deborah Scroggins, Dominic Ziegler, Gwen Robinson, Jeff Kingston, Jill Dougherty, Mark Lilla, Melinda Haring, Paul and Kukula Glastris, Steve LeVine and Nurilda Nurlybaeva, and Kenneth Cukier. Suzanne Black deserves a special mention for her tireless financial management.

I’m also obligated to the noble volunteers at the Brewster Ladies’ Library in Brewster, Massachusetts, and the team at the public library in Bethesda, Maryland. I’m also happy to acknowledge the contribution of the staff and patrons of the Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans, Massachusetts, and the Tastee Diner in Bethesda.

Finally, a special note of love and thanks goes to Ted Caryl, who is not only the best brother imaginable, but also a great banker in the bargain. And, finally, I come to my long-suffering family: Natasha, Timothy, and Alexandra. You endured my many absences and kept me going when the going got tough. I owe you a debt I can never adequately repay. I hope that you will accept this book, nonetheless, as an emblem of my love.

1
.
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President
, Jimmy Carter, 458.

2
.
The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—the Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy
, George Weigel, 182.

3
.
The Anatomy of Thatcherism
, Shirley Robin Letwin, 33–34.

4
. “Teng’s Cryptic Remark,” Bill Roeder,
Newsweek
, December 18, 1978.

5
.
The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran
, Said Amir Arjomand, 205.

6
.
Restless Empire: China and the World Since
1750, Odd Arne Westad, 378.

7
. “Speech to Conservative Rally in Cardiff,” April 16, 1979.
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104011
.

1
.
How We Got Here: The 70s, the Decade That Brought You Modern Life (for Better or Worse)
, David Frum, 10–11.

2
.
Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies
, Judith Stein, xi.

3
.
The Shock of the Global: The
1970
s in Perspective
, edited by Niall Ferguson et al., 53.

4
. “Malaise,” Charles Maier, in ibid., 45.

5
.
The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times
, Odd Arne Westad, 334.

6
.
The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals
, Stephen Haseler, 144.

7
. “Iceland Preparing to Take IMF Loan,”
London Telegraph
, October 12, 2008,
http://pimpinturtle.com/2008/10/12/iceland-preparing-to-take-imf-loan.aspx
.

8
. “Iceland Requests $2Bn Bail-Out from IMF,” David Ibison,
Financial Times
, October 24, 2008,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9e812fb4-a1da-11dd-a32f-000077b07658.html#axzziRk2KrIQX
.

9
.
The Necessity for Choice: Prospects of American Foreign Policy
, Henry Kissinger (Chatto & Windus, London, 1960), quoted in Westad,
Global Cold War
, 411.

10
. See, for example,
The New Industrial State
, John Kenneth Galbraith.

11
. “Malaise,” Maier, in
Shock of the Global
, edited by Ferguson et al., 45.

12
.
Shock of the Global
, edited by Ferguson et al., 84–85.

13
. “The Workers,” Alex Pravda, in
Poland: Genesis of a Revolution
, edited by Abraham Brumberg, 69.

14
. “Karol Wojtyła, the Pope: Complications for Comrades of the Polish United Workers’ Party,” Marcin Zaremba.
Cold War History
5, no. 3 (August 2005).

15
. “The Pope in Poland: A Test for Communism; The Pope’s Visit Tests Polish Communism,” Peter Osnos,
Washington Post
, May 27, 1979.

16
.
KOR: A History of the Workers’ Defense Committee in Poland, 1976–1981
, Jan Józef Lipski, 176.

17
. “Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Helsinki Final Act,” Patrick G. Vaughan, in
The Crisis of Detente in Europe: From Helsinki to Gorbachev
, 1975–1985, edited by Leopoldo Nuti, 19.

18
. Ibid., 20.

19
.
Mao’s Last Revolution
, Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, 10.

1
.
Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao’s China
, James Palmer, 160.

2
.
Deng Xiaoping and the Cultural Revolution: A Daughter Recalls the Critical Years
, Deng Rong, 428.

3
. The name originally came from Mao, who had coined it when admonishing them not to engage in conspiracies. Aside from Jiang, the other three members of the group were Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan.

4
.
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
, Ezra Vogel, 40.

5
.
Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes
, Palmer, 189, 191.

6
.
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
, Vogel, 26–27.

7
. Ibid., 29.

8
. Ibid.

9
. Ibid., 32.

10
. Ibid., 60.

11
. Deng did not coin the phrase. It is actually an old Sichuanese proverb.