Redstate

Ronald Reagan speaks at Moscow University in 1988

By AcademicElephant Posted in Contra Tyrannum — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I think after witnessing the performance of His Excellency, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Columbia University today, it is worth reflecting on the words of another leader speaking at an academic institution on what was at that point (still) enemy soil. The great leader was Ronald Reagan. The institution was Moscow University. The enemy soil was the U.S.S.R. The year was 1988.

Read on...

I can tell you that nothing would please my heart more than in my lifetime to see American and Soviet diplomats grappling with the problem of trade disputes between America and a growing, exuberant, exporting Soviet Union that had opened up to economic freedom and growth.

Is this just a dream? Perhaps. But it is a dream that is our responsibility to have come true.

Your generation is living in one of the most exciting, hopeful times in Soviet history. It is a time when the first breath of freedom stirs the air and the heart beats to the accelerated rhythm of hope, when the accumulated spiritual energies of a long silence yearn to break free.

We do not know what the conclusion of this journey will be, but we're hopeful that the promise of reform will be fulfilled. In this Moscow spring, this May 1988, we may be allowed that hope — that freedom, like the fresh green sapling planted over Tolstoy's grave, will blossom forth at least in the rich fertile soil of your people and culture. We may be allowed to hope that the marvelous sound of a new openness will keep rising through, ringing through, leading to a new world of reconciliation, friendship, and peace.

Thank you all very much and da blagoslovit vas gospod! God bless you.

President Reagan spoke of political freedom, economic opportunity, and making allies and partners out of old adversaries. He spoke respectfully of Russian culture and traditions. All this to the denizens of what had been, to use his phrase an "evil empire" not that very long ago. Reagan used this speech as an historic opportunity to speak directly to the Russian people and express his hope for a peaceful and prosperous future.

What a contrast with the small, fanatical mind revealed in Mr. Ahmadinijad's remarks today. I am still unsure why he was invited to Columbia, or what he hoped to achieve by accepting the invitation, but it seems to me that both the President and the University were the losers in their bizarre and unpleasant exchange. I think we would all do much better by simply having the undergraduates at Columbia and at the University of Tehran read Mr. Reagan's speech and write a 500 word essay on how its lessons apply to our world today.

Maybe we should sponsor a contest?