Norman L. Eisen - Democracys Defenders: U.S. Embassy Prague, the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, and Its Aftermath

This fascinating collection of documents reveals American foreign policymaking at its most effective and compelling. What stands out is not only the professionalism of American diplomats but also their passionate devotion to liberal democratic ideals. This is a success story, much needed at a time when many have forgotten what that looks like.

R OBERT K AGAN , Stephen and Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; author of The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World

Democracys Defenders is fascinating and instructive. It offers essential lessons about not only the past but the present and future of American foreign policy. They include how to promote human rights in authoritarian regimes and how to support new democracies.

J OSEPH L IEBERMAN , former United States Senator

Democracys Defenders is a welcome and valuable addition to our ever-expanding volume of knowledge of the role of American diplomacy behind the Iron Curtain and particularly in Czechoslovakia at the end of the Cold War and in the first stages of the countrys transition to democracy. The newly available cables establish a number of interesting new connections and fill in a number of gaps. The meticulous work of the editors and their insights make this a book worth reading by every serious student of recent Czech-American history.

M ICHAEL ANTOVSK , former Czech ambassador to the United States; author of Havel: A Life

These cables bring to life the heady, bewildering, and sometimes frustrating days of summer and fall 1989, as depicted by the U.S. embassy staff who dealt with the Communist regime in Prague and the growing dissident movement that would topple it. Norman Eisen and his researchers have done a fine job in selecting and editing these important diplomatic records and framing them in the context of the Cold War and its aftermath. As an eyewitness to these events myself, I commend the clarity of the reporting and the analytical framework with which these able, patriotic, and highly professional men and women served their countryand the wider cause of freedom in Czechoslovakia.

E DWARD L UCAS , senior vice president, Center for European Policy Analysis; author of The New Cold War: Putins Russia and the Threat to the West

In Democracys Defenders , history comes alive through the vivid, lived experience of U.S. diplomats who were both helping to shape and respond to transformative events. At a time when authoritarianism has reemerged, this book offers powerful and timely lessons about how and why we should learn from a democratic triumph that was not at all inevitable.

B EN R HODES , former deputy national security adviser; author of The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House

DEMOCRACYS DEFENDERS

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U.S. EMBASSY PRAGUE

THE FALL OF COMMUNISM IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

AND ITS AFTERMATH

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EDITED BY

NORMAN EISEN

BROOKINGS INSTITUTION PRESS

Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2020

THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

www.brookings.edu

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings Institution Press.

The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to bear on current and emerging policy problems. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.

The opinions and characterizations in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. government.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

Names: United States. Embassy (Czechoslovakia), creator. | Eisen, Norman L., 1961 editor.

Title: Democracys defenders : U.S. Embassy Prague, the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, and its aftermath / edited by Norman L. Eisen.

Description: Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019048150 (print) | LCCN 2019048151 (ebook) | ISBN 9780815738213 (cloth) | ISBN 9780815738220 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: United States. Embassy (Czechoslovakia)Records and correspondence. | International relationsHistory20th century. | CzechoslovakiaHistoryVelvet Revolution, 1989Sources. | United StatesForeign relationsCzechoslovakiaSources. | CzechoslovakiaForeign relationsUnited StatesSources. | CzechoslovakiaPolitics and government19681989Sources.

Classification: LCC DB2233 .U55 2020 (print) | LCC DB2233 (ebook) | DDC 943.704/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048150

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048151

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Typeset in Minion Pro and Acumin Pro

Composition by Elliott Beard

CONTENTS

NORMAN EISEN

WITH DAVID FISHMAN AND NARRELLE GILCHRIST

KELSEY LANDAU, NORMAN EISEN, AND MIKUL PETA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I wish to acknowledge my friend Dan Berger, who provided constant encouragement during the long process of obtaining the cables from the State Department, and who otherwise supported this book in every way. I could not have produced this volume without the generosity of John Allen, president of the Brookings Institution, and Darrell West, vice president and director of the Governance Studies program at Brookings. I am grateful to them both.

My Brookings research assistant, Theodore Becker-Jacob, helped shepherd every part of this book to completion, and generously allowed others who led on individual portions to have the bylines. This volume also benefited in all aspects from the work of my co-contributors Kelsey Landau, Mikul Peta, David Fishman, and Narrelle Gilchrist.

At the Brookings Institution Press, I wish to thank director Bill Finan, production manager Elliott Beard, and managing editor Cecilia Gonzlez for their enthusiasm and care. The essays in this volume greatly benefited from the comments of Adrian Basora, Eric Edelman, Daniel Fried, Kenneth Juster, Igor Lukes, Andrew Kenealy, Vilm Prean, Theodore Russell, Ji Suk, and Jenonne Walker.

I am grateful to those who provided assistance in obtaining the materials and developing the ideas presented here while I was working on The Last Palace, including my former research assistant Andrew Kenealy and my first editor on that earlier volume, Domenica Alioto, as well as Richard Bassett, Charles Black Jr., Cliff Bond, Susan Black Falaschi, Curtis Grisham, Thomas Hull, Ed Kaska, Robert Kiene, John Macgregor, Robert McRae, Cameron Munter, Fernando Rondon, and Theodore Russell. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude for relevant help to my former interns Agneska Bloch, Ladislav Charouz, Adrienne Epstein, Colby Galliher, Carolina Hernandez, Alexander Jin, Angela King, Madeline McCann, Kiersten Rhodes, Henry Robinson, and Meilin Scanish, and to Sarah Chilton and Laura Mooney of the Brookings Library. I would also like to thank Andy Schapiro and Tod Sedgwick, as well as my Brookings colleagues Alina Polyakova and Torrey Taussig, for their thoughts on essays I co-authored with Mr. Kenealy about the state of Czech and Slovak liberalism today that are here adapted and excerpted as part of the afterword.