America needed our help, and we had to give it.
ADAM MICHNIKAmerica needed our help, and we had to give it.
ADAM MICHNIKIn a democracy, the government is a reflection of society because people are elected.
ADAM MICHNIKThe main difference between the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution was that the former was mostly the work of Communist party members and others who wanted to bring about ‘socialism with a human face.’
ADAM MICHNIKFrance can never accept that it is no longer a dominating power in the world of culture. This is true both of the French right and the French left. They keep thinking that Americans are primitive cowboys or farmers who do not understand anything.
ADAM MICHNIKStart doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become.
ADAM MICHNIKToday we reject the notion of equality between a regime that belongs to the democratic world – even if it is conservative and disagreeable – and a totalitarian dictatorship, whether its colors are black, red, or green.
ADAM MICHNIKAfter the French Revolution, it was not the treason of the king that was in question; it was the existence of the king. You have to be very careful when you judge and execute somebody for being a symbol.
ADAM MICHNIKIsrael is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.
ADAM MICHNIKAfter the fall of communism in Poland, we had a post-communist as president for two terms: Aleksander Kwasniewski. He was very good. He brought Poland into NATO and the European Union.
ADAM MICHNIKThe call to finally clean house is a propaganda tool of the right, which tolerates the leftists who it condemns.
ADAM MICHNIKAlthough there is a strong desire for freedom in the countries of Eastern Europe, there is no democratic tradition, so that the risk of anarchy and chaos continues to exist.
ADAM MICHNIKI think you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein.
ADAM MICHNIKThere were free elections in Bulgaria, where the opposition has just won.
ADAM MICHNIKDo you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it.
ADAM MICHNIKA part of society in our countries would still prefer an authoritarian regime today. These are people with the mentality of Homo sovieticus. But they also exist in France – just think of Le Pen – and even in Finland and Sweden.
ADAM MICHNIKI think it’s always dangerous to make political arguments in a religiously ideological way. And it’s very dangerous to treat as traitors to the American nation those who think differently.
ADAM MICHNIK