Communist cruelty summarized
by Tommy Hansson

Fifteen years after the fall of the Soviet Empire and the end of the Cold War the world is getting a perspective on the Communist threat to the world and to freedom. Communism is still in charge in some countries, but with the exception of North Korean nukes it poses no real threat to the rest of the world. A number of books are written on the threat of communism in perspective and in this article Tommy Hansson discusses two, one edited by Anu Maria Köll and one on Pol Pot written by Peter Fröberg Idling.

A letter to Karl Mewis in Rostock…
by Bertil Häggman

In April 1960 Kjell Ericsson of the Swedish Coop in Malmö wrote a letter to Karl Mewis in Rostock, East Germany. Ericsson didn’t know enough German, so he wrote in Swedish, but in German archives you can find a full German translation. It is one of many thousand documents that can be found in German archives. Mewis was an influential person in Communist Germany and the purpose of the letter was to get a generous treatment of Swedish cooperatists that Ericsson was planning to send to Rostock.

McCarthy and Communism in the USA
by Tommy Hansson

9 February 1950 one of the most significant political campaigns in modern times was launched. The Republican Senator from Wisconsin Joseph McCarthy made a remarkable speech in Wheeling, West Viriginia. A speech where he claimed that the administration of President Harry Truman was infiltrated by Communists. According to the 41 year old Senator the State Department had 57 Communist employees. In the speech McCarthy discussed the objectives of Communism and the threat against the American Society.

This year it is fifty years since the death of McCarthy, only 48 years old. During his short time in the centre of political life he became well-known all over the world as an ardent discloser of Communists and communist sympathisers as well as a red rag for leftists. His name is today by leftists used in the term”mccarthyism” translated into “hysteric campaigns” and “witch hunting”.

Russia tried to crush the Estonian infrastructure
by C G Holm

In connection with the “statue crisis” (when the Estonian government moved the downtown Tallinn statue of what usually was called “the unknown rapist” to a more remote war cemetery) Estonia was the victim of a massive elctronic attack, the first cyberwar. The Estonian society has moved right into the 21st century and is much more denpendent on internet than any country in the Western world. Banking, news and telepohones all fully depend on internet access, Estonia having one of the highest broadband penetrations in the world. The traces of the cyberwar lead to Russia – and to Russian official institutions. Experts from all over Europe and North America flew into Tallin in order to study and learn from the first cyberwar.

Marjorie Meyer Arsht – a Republican pioneer
by Allan C. Brownfeld

Marjorie Meyer Arsht, who is 91, has lived an extraordinary life. Her autobiography ”All the Way from Yoakum” tells the story of a woman that turned into a leader in the political life of Houston and Texas as one of the founders of the Republican Party in Texas. During a long life, she has experieced both tragedies and happiness, but for all these years she has been convicted to make an effort. And she was among those who introduced George H W Bush into the political life of Texas.

The Mystery of Capitalism –
and why capitalism doesn’t work anywhere
by Fredrik Runebert

Peruan economist Hernando de Soto has studied the reason why capitalism has worked in the Western world only. Why has it failed in other areas of the world, like Afrtica and Latin America? His conclusion is that these areas have lacked decisive institutions that are necessary for a capitalist success. The lack of ownership titles to land and a stable court system to secure the legal rights of citizens are crucial factors. Hernando de Soto and his think-tank Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) has calculated that poor people in poor countries have informal assets that are more than 40 times as big as all aid these countries combined have received since 1945.

Islam has always been forwarded by violent means
by C G Holm

The founders of great religions like buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama and Christianity, Jesus, have been men of peace. The same can be said of the influential Eastern philosopher Confucius (Kon Fu-tse). Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, was a prince by birth and left his earthly power in order to preach his philosophy and beliefs like a poor monk. Muhammad had a completely different background. After having failed by preaching he turned into violence. He robbed caravans and offered his victims the choice between conversion and death. Only those who chose conversion survived.