[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-322827-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-322827-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","ease-do-not-remove-eastern-europe-achilles-heel-of-communism","# EASE DO NOT REMOVE - Eastern Europe: Achilles Heel of Communism?","","A discussion guide on whether Eastern Europe is a vulnerable point for Soviet communism and how better information is essential for effective U.S. foreign policy. It argues that many reports fail to reach the public behind the Iron Curtain, highlights past events such as the Hungarian revolution and Polish unrest, and warns against treating Eastern European countries as uniform. It emphasizes key differences in language, culture, living standards, and local political and religious conditions across countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Hungary.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/","Religion & Spirituality",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ease-do-not-remove-eastern-europe-achilles-heel-of-communism/322827/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/ease-do-not-remove-eastern-europe-achilles-heel-of-communism/322827.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"River Wang","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-08","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does the guide compare Eastern Europe to the Achilles heel of communism?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues Eastern Europe has vulnerabilities that could matter to U.S. policy, especially because Soviet control faces growing resentment and surprising developments.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What problem does the guide identify with current U.S. understanding of Eastern Europe?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It says misinformation and limited access behind the Iron Curtain prevent Americans from staying well informed, leading to faulty assumptions about how Eastern European societies are actually opposed to Soviet control.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the guide recommend improving U.S. foreign policy toward the region?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It recommends learning more about individual countries rather than applying a uniform approach, using facts about their cultural, linguistic, and living-condition differences.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},322827,1790865604,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":116,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":33,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":123},1099514067438,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542","MRYC             Art)  \nVital Issues\"A DISCUSSION GUIDE FORBETTER INFORMED AMERICANS”A service of the  \nDETRO1T.MiCril③AN  \n.87  \n# EASE DO NOT REMOVE\n\nEASTERN EUROPE:  \nCENTER FOR INFORMATION ON AMERICAWASHINGTON,CONNECTICUTVolume VII,Number 4  \n# Achilles Heel of Communism?\n\nThe mighty warrior Achilles,according to ancient Greeklegend,had a vulnerable spot.Hit him in the heel and he’dbe done for.  \nIs Eastern Europe the Achilles heel of Communism?  \nIf it is,and if we are to conduct our foreign policy to ourbest advantage,we ought to see to it that we're well informedabout the area.We should be interested,anyway,since a goodmany of our citizens originally stem from there.  \nIt's rather difficult,right now,to keep posted on EasternEurope.Probably many reports which must worry the Krem-lin and give it plenty of headaches never leak out to us frombehind the Iron Curtain.But a few have exploded into eventsthat have taken us by surprise,and,unfortunately,have foundus unprepared to act effectively in the cause of freedom.  \nPrime example is the Hungarian revolution in the fall of’56,which showed the world that great numbers of the peopleof Hungary were against Soviet Communism.  \nAnother instance is the Polish situation,past and present.There's a growing restless resentment all over the area.Further surprises are very likely in store.  \nBecause of our imperfect knowledge of Eastern Europe,wetend to lump together its people and countries—imaginingthem equally dominated by Communism.As a matter of fact,a number of competent experts are convinced that the ma-jority of the people in each of the Eastern European iron cur-tain countries outside Russia is actually opposed to Sovietcontrol or Soviet Communism.  \nIn order to help improve the chances of their breakingaway from Russia and aligning themselves with the West,weneed to know much more than most of us do about theseindividual countries.Misinformation is always dangerous—particularly so in a matter of such importance.  \nA common mistake is to think of all iron curtain countriesof Eastern Europe as alike,and therefore to be dealt withthrough a uniform U.S.foreign policy.We forget—or neverknew—how different from one another they are.On the onehand,for instance,Rumania speaks a language that soundslike Italian and uses the same alphabet that we do.Quite thereverse,Serbia(now part of Yugoslavia)speaks a languagemuch like Russian and has an alphabet closely resembling thatof the Russians.  \nThe American traveler who goes behind the iron curtaininto Eastern Europe will see,if he keeps his eyes open,that itis actually an area of contrasts.The green fields and the Com-munist observation towers may look much the same on eitherside of a border—but he'll be struck by the fact that inculture,in language,in standards of living,each country is aptto be very different from the next.  \nThe Communist authorities know how great and how re-vealing these differences are —and how dangerous to them.That's why they make it hard for Eastern Europeans to travelfrom one Communist country to another.Trains are held up  \nMap and drawings by C.P.Meier  \nEDITORIAL ADVISORY cOMMITTE:Dr.James W.Fesler,Professor af Government,Yale University;Dr.Kent RobertsGreenfield,Chief Historian,Department of the Army,Washington,D.C.;Dr.Allan Nevins,Prafessor of AmericanHistary,Columbia University,President of the Saciety af American Histarians;Dr.Robert E.Spiller,Chairman of theDepartment of American Civilizatian,University of Pennsylvania,former President of the American Studies Association, a national society far the study of American civilization.Editor:Townsend Scudder,President of the Center.  \nCopyright 1957 by the Center for Informatian on America  \nforces in East Germany.In 1957,Poland began receivingeconomic aid from the U.S.Over 90 percent of the popula-tion is Roman Catholic.  \nRumania.91,000 square miles,16 million people.Four-fifths agricultural and stock raising.Rich in petroleum andnatural gas and certain metal","cbCaitw3XjQidNAh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitw3XjQidNAh","pdf",437136,"English","# Achilles Heel of Communism?\n## Need for better informed foreign policy\n## Rejecting one-size-fits-all assumptions\n## Country contrasts and local conditions","[{\"question\":\"Why does the guide compare Eastern Europe to the Achilles heel of communism?\",\"answer\":\"It argues Eastern Europe has vulnerabilities that could matter to U.S. policy, especially because Soviet control faces growing resentment and surprising developments.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem does the guide identify with current U.S. understanding of Eastern Europe?\",\"answer\":\"It says misinformation and limited access behind the Iron Curtain prevent Americans from staying well informed, leading to faulty assumptions about how Eastern European societies are actually opposed to Soviet control.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the guide recommend improving U.S. foreign policy toward the region?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends learning more about individual countries rather than applying a uniform approach, using facts about their cultural, linguistic, and living-condition differences.\"}]","# EASE DO NOT REMOVE - Eastern Europe: Achilles Heel of Communism? | PDF",1789963656]