Discourse on the Culture of Remembrance Regarding East-West Relations (1975–2025)

Abstract

The study examines the commemorative political discourse of the East-West confrontation regarding the history of the period between 1975 and 2025, with special emphasis on narratives applicable to secondary education. The author draws a sharp distinction between the logic of "peaceful coexistence" (the partition of the world and acceptance of the status quo) and the "Helsinki process" (the assertion of universal norms and human rights even beyond the Iron Curtain). The analysis highlights that while arms control negotiations did not interfere with the internal affairs of dictatorships, the three baskets of the Helsinki Final Act disrupted the closed structures of socialist systems. From a 2026 perspective, the text evaluates the fortieth anniversary of Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power, highlighting the "zapadnik" (Westernizer) tradition. All this is linked to the current conflict in Ukraine: for the West, the stakes remain twofold: the protection of democratic norms and preventing Russia from permanently becoming an Asian power. The West can facilitate both by supporting the "zapadnik" tradition and the resisting Ukraine.