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Europe made progress on the expansion of human freedom. This is due to the disintegration of the oppressive power structure that allowed the Kremlin to exercise control over the lives of over 300 million people who were trapped within the confines of the Soviet Empire. It further reflects the reconstruction along more democratic lines of most of the twenty-two independent European states that have emerged out of that empire. Finally, it reflects the continued progress being made by what we for so long have referred to as Western Europe in reducing the importance of national borders.