From Deseret News archives:
Hungarian yearns to rock world
"I called my mom and said, 'I'm not returning,' " Simonyi recalled this week. "She said, 'OK, but from now on your mother, father, sister and brother will be harassed, ' so I returned."
Thirty-five years later, Simonyi is the ambassador to the United States for a democratic Hungary, and gives credit for that twist of fate to, of all things, rock 'n' roll.
In fact, he shared his belief that American rock music fostered the democratization of Eastern Europe during a speech last year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. And this week he told Brigham Young University students that American culture could also help win the hearts and minds of Iraqis.
Hungary committed 300 troops to Iraq to send a message that the United States wasn't acting alone. "It is so important for Iraq to see the Hungarian flag, the Danish flag, the Polish flag flying out there with the American flag," Simonyi said.
American military might — its "hard power" — is holding the world together today, he said. However, America's "soft power" — its culture — is equally powerful and important.
"Don't be mistaken," he said. "You are able to rock because you have hard power to protect your democracy. As we move on and hold hands as Hungarians and Americans, as Europeans and Americans, we will be successful in bringing democracy to other countries because it is a combination no one can beat.
"No one can beat our armies and no one can beat our soft culture. If we can make sure Muslims understand we're not out to destroy their culture but to protect the parts of their culture that isn't aimed at destroying others, we will see a positive change."
Living in Denmark as a teenager, Simonyi fell in love with rock music and learned to play the electric guitar. When he returned to Hungary, he listened to rock on banned Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcasts.
"The Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain were able to stop people from moving from country to country, were able to stop books from coming into communist countries, were able to stop personalities and outstanding minds from coming into communist countries, but they couldn't stop the airwaves," he said.
"I don't think America knows the impact the best of its pop culture had on Eastern and Central Europe. Rock and roll was for us what the Internet is today for would-be democrats behind still-existing iron curtains."
"The world owes a lot to American rock," Simonyi added. "Rock music is really about freedom."
He encouraged students to cherish freedom, something Hungary has enjoyed for just 15 years. "With our battered history, we never thought we'd make it to the communities of democracies," Simonyi said.
Especially now that Hungary is a member of NATO and the European Union, he is glad to see American-European relations beginning to mend 18 months after the invasion of Iraq.
"It's time for Europe and the United States to stop doubting whether we were right or you were wrong," he said. "We have to persevere, we have to muddle through and make sure Iraq becomes a democracy."
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com
