The World Split Apart, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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Recommended: The cold war ideology

Excommunicated from his home country of Russia for his rejection of Communism, Alexander Solzhenitsyn presented his famous speech “A World Split Apart” at Harvard on June 8th, 1978. Addressing possible future world leaders inspired Solzhenitsyn to speak about issues relevant to their experiences with Western culture. In the midst of the Cold War, it was his goal to critique failures and exemplify the truth of his opinions in this opposite culture. While presenting valid points, Solzhenitsyn’s view of the Western world was disillusioned due to his foreign perspective and demeanor brought upon by his own austere society.

In this contemporary domain, there are more than three types of worlds in existence according to the speaker. Besides the poor, dependent third world, the first world giants with rich economies, and the second worlds falling somewhere in the middle, underlying factors make these categories too broad for specification. While Solzhenitsyn uses this thought to help listeners comprehend the state of Russia, it falls short in relation to real word conditions, where countries are actually defined by these conventional qualifications. The writer does hit the mark with reference to Imperialism and its shortcomings, as it produced only temporary and toxic results in the long run. Even though Solzhenitsyn’s view is narrow in its approach, it demonstrates an alternate and fresh viewpoint of global classification.

A common misconception of the Cold War was convergence, the idea that the victor would replace the losing side’s ideas with that of its country. Solzhenitsyn believed this was a betrayal of principles, and that the possibility of Russia’s transformation from Communism to the Western philosophy was not the answer....

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...ms of politics, but in its awareness of its self-destruction.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a trailblazer who went against his country’s Communist way of life, presented an interesting viewpoint of Western society in his essay entitled “A World Split Apart.” This writing outlined the divisions of the world, and offered critiques necessary to increase harmony, peace, and effective politics across the globe. Even though Solzhenitsyn’s unfamiliarity and Russian background made his opinion a little less believable at some points, his innovative style brought some considerations to light. An unique viewpoint surrounding divided thoughts, Solzhenitsyn’s piece highlighted necessary changes to a flourishing system, but in a way that would compromise the integrity of the Western world.

Works Cited

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html

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