Western credits. The contention of thenpanel that Yugoslav consumer goodsnare shoddy can easily be verified by anlook at that nation’s crowning export,nthe Yugo, a plagiarized Fiat of quitenexceptional horror.nBut doesn’t the Yugoslav governmentnallow free emigration? Accordingnto Ljubo Sire, the outflow has “practicallynstopped,” and there are overn20,000 Yugoslavs who cannot get passportsnfor “security reasons.”nTo be sure, some one million Yugoslavsnlive and work abroad, but they donnot rest easy. According to Mihajlov,nthe Yugoslav secret police has remainednone of the few such forces thatnassassinates people in the West. Nearlyn40 expatriate Yugoslavs have beennkilled over the last 20 years, many ofnthem publishers and editors of thenemigre press. “The Western worldndoes not respond,” laments Mihajlov.nAt home, political prisoners number innthe thousands. A singer was recentlynjailed for failing to sing a song aboutnTito.nAs for its “nonaligned” status, Mr.nAleksandar Knezevich points out thatnYugoslavia is third or fourth amongnnations that always vote against thenUnited States in the UN. DuringnArab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973,nthe Soviets shipped weapons to Egyptnthrough Yugoslavia. If push comes tonshove, says Knezevich, “the YugoslavnCommunists will side with their Communistnbrothers against us.”nMany of these emigres are sharplyncritical of U.S. State Department policyntoward Yugoslavia, which they see asnacquiescent and counterproductivensupport of a corrupt regime. Accordingnto Selic, the Yugoslav government isnvulnerable and will react to “real pressure”nshould the United States shownitself up to the task. But for the currentnNew Class aristocracy in Belgrade,nthere seems little cause for alarm. ThenU.S. continues to shower money onnthe regime, “largely without conditions,”nand continues to work “hand innglove” with the repressive Yugoslavngovernment while ignoring thendissidents’ most elementary requests.nMost notable among the participantsnis their affirmation of democracy,nwhich they view as the key to solvingnYugoslavia’s regional problems. “Democracynis a precondition for a freenculture,” says Mihajlov, citing success­nful multinational democratic statesnsuch as Switzerland. According tonKnezevich, “the root problem in Yugoslavianis the Communist dictatorship,”nhence, “Let’s work together to destroynthe Communist dictatorship” and replacenit with “one free democraticnsociety.”nThe clarity and courage of suchnstatements is inspiring, but in the presentnmoral and intellectual climate, thisnis blasphemy. Such sentiments are notnwelcome at Harvard, on Nightline, andncertainly not in the Congress of thenUnited States, where Kennedy,nHarkin, and Wright hold sway andnwhere the rule is appeasement. Whatnthe exiles must understand is that withnour New Class, it is only permissible tondestroy authoritarian or even democraticnsocieties and replace them withnCommunist dictatorships.nK.L. Billingsley is the author of anhook on the National Council ofnChurches, to be published this year bynthe Ethics and Public Policy Center,nWashington, DC.nLnHors d’OeuvrenThe Hussar by David R. Slavitt,nBaton Rouge: Louisiana StatenUniversity Press; $16.95.n”The Hussar is the result of a kind of anliterary parlor game,” writes David R.nSlavitt of his newest novel. “It is, innfact, my version of Theodore Fontane’snnovel, A Man of Honor, a book I hadnnot read but a description of which Inhad come across in an essay bynGabriele Annan in The New YorknReview of Books.”nIn “paying homage to anothernman’s tale,” Slavitt wrote his booknwithout consulting the 19th-centurynPrussian writer’s original. The result,nby an accomplished writer, is a pleasurento read, though somewhat difficultnto condone. Parlor games, literary ornother, should involve gamesters, notnearnest legionnaires.nThis enormous age and its perplexednreaders, even if comparativelynfew in number, deserve more fromnsuch obvious talents. (MS)nThe Fourth Annual Erasmus LecturenBIBLICAL INTERPRETATIONnIN CRISISnOn the Question of the Foundations andnApproaches of Exegesis TodaynbynJoseph Cardinal RatzingernPrefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.nPresident of the InternationalnTheological Commission and PontificalnBiblical Commission.nTo order your copy of BIBLICAL IMTERPRETATION IMnCRISIS send $2.50 (includes postage and handling)nwith the coupon below to: The Rockford Institute /n934 North Main Street / Rockford, Illinois 61103.nn Please send my copy of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’snBIBLICAL INTERPRETATION IN CRISIS.nD Enclosed is my check or money order for $2.50.nnamenAddress .nCity _ State. .Zip_nMail to: The Rockford Institute / 934 P(. Main St. / Roclrford, IL 61103nTE888nnnAUGUST 1988 / 39n