Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe

Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe PDF

Author: Gale Stokes

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780195104820

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The revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe made it possible for people who had always considered themselves part of the European mainstream to reemerge from two generations of Communist separation. At the same time, however, the war in the former Yugoslavia threw doubt on the stability of the region. In Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe, Gale Stokes, a noted specialist on the history of Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia, covers a broad range of topics, including the revolutions of 1989. The first section of the text describes the historical sources of the regions distinctiveness. Part two illuminates the background of the 1990s crisis in Yugoslavia and the final section discusses the conditions of Eastern Europe after 1945. Because the text is broken into three interrelated parts, instructors are able to choose the sections that are most appropriate for their courses. Stokes discusses the social determinants of East European politics, but argues that ideas were more important in the revolutions of 1989. These interpretations, along with his optimistic assessment of the regions future, are sure to provoke debate. Clear and concise, these articles are both wide-ranging and cross-cultural, giving students not only an overall historical view of the region, but also a glimpse into more recent events as well. The scope and penetration of the essays, along with their challenging viewpoints, are sure to engage undergraduates and scholars studying Eastern European history and international politics.

Europe since 1989

Europe since 1989 PDF

Author: Philipp Ther

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-08-21

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 0691181136

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An award-winning history of the transformation of Europe between 1989 and today In this award-winning book, Philipp Ther provides the first comprehensive history of post-1989 Europe, offering a sweeping narrative filled with vivid details and memorable stories. Europe since 1989 shows how liberalization, deregulation, and privatization had catastrophic effects on former Soviet Bloc countries. Ther refutes the idea that this economic “shock therapy” was the basis of later growth, arguing that human capital and the “transformation from below” determined economic success or failure. He also shows how the capitalist West’s effort to reshape Eastern Europe in its own likeness ended up reshaping Western Europe, especially Germany. Bringing the story up to the present, Ther compares Eastern and Southern Europe after the 2008–9 global financial crisis. A compelling account of how the new order of Europe was wrought from the chaotic aftermath of the Cold War, Europe since 1989 is essential reading for understanding post-Brexit Europe and the present dangers for democracy and the European Union.

Political Change in Eastern Europe Since 1989

Political Change in Eastern Europe Since 1989 PDF

Author: Robert Zuzowski

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1998-06-25

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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This political analysis explains why some Eastern European countries are politically victorious and economically prosperous, whilst others are not. It shows how the roots of these countries' relative success and failure were sown during fundamental changes allied to the demise of communism.

The Burdens of Freedom

The Burdens of Freedom PDF

Author: Padraic Kenney

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2013-04-04

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 184813620X

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From Estonia to Macedonia, this book is a history of 15 countries as they negotiate their transition from communism. For some, the story ends happily, with triumphant entry into the European Union in 2004.Others are caught in limbo, destroyed by nationalist politics, war and genocide, or crippled by corrupt political practices. The Burdens of Freedom considers the effects of revolutionary change, the resurgence of nationalism and the painful examination of the past. It looks at the process of building stable democratic states, and their integration with international structures. Most of the countries have established admission to the EU as a national objective; but many of them have also been active participants in the American-led occupation of Iraq. Domestically, each has seen a divide emerge between winners and losers. All are moving forward simultaneously to democracy, unity and prosperity, but also to national division and economic disparity.

The Legacy of Division

The Legacy of Division PDF

Author: Ferenc Laczó

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2020-10-15

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9633863759

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This volume examines the legacy of the East–West divide since the implosion of the communist regimes in Europe. The ideals of 1989 have largely been frustrated by the crises and turmoil of the past decade. The liberal consensus was first challenged as early as the mid-2000s. In Eastern Europe, grievances were directed against the prevailing narratives of transition and ever sharper ethnic-racial antipathies surfaced in opposition to a supposedly postnational and multicultural West. In Western Europe, voices regretting the European Union's supposedly careless and premature expansion eastward began to appear on both sides of the left–right and liberal–conservative divides. The possibility of convergence between Europe's two halves has been reconceived as a threat to the European project. In a series of original essays and conversations, thirty-three contributors from the fields of European and global history, politics and culture address questions fundamental to our understanding of Europe today: How have perceptions and misperceptions between the two halves of the continent changed over the last three decades? Can one speak of a new East–West split? If so, what characterizes it and why has it reemerged? The contributions demonstrate a great variety of approaches, perspectives, emphases, and arguments in addressing the daunting dilemma of Europe's assumed East–West divide.

Europe Since 1989

Europe Since 1989 PDF

Author: William Outhwaite

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-05

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 131753865X

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Europe Since 1989 charts the development of Europe east and west since the 1989 revolutions. It analyses the emergent European society, the development of a European public sphere, and civil society. Most books on Europe are heavily biased to the West and Europe Since 1989 takes the opposite approach. It argues that the transformation of the postcommunist world has implications for the whole of Europe and explores the interplay between long-term fundamental tendencies and chance events and the possible futures which confront contemporary Europe. With close attention to political, economic and other social transformations, and an appendix which gives special attention to European macro regions (Nordic/Baltic Europe, Mediterranean Europe), it offers a sociology of Europe with a strong interdisciplinary emphasis.

From Revolution to Uncertainty

From Revolution to Uncertainty PDF

Author: Joachim von Puttkamer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-05

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1351140302

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Throughout Eastern Europe, the unexpected and irrevocable fall of communism that began in the late 1980s presented enormous challenges in the spheres of politics and society, as well as at the level of individual experience. Excitement, uncertainty, and fear predicated the shaping of a new order, the outcome of which was anything but predetermined. Recent studies have focused on the ambivalent impact of capitalism. Yet, at the time, parliamentary democracy had equally few traditions to return to, and membership in the European Union was a distant dream at best. Nowadays, as new threats arise, Europe’s current political crises prompt us to reconsider how liberal democracy in Eastern Europe came about in the first place. This book undertakes an analysis of the year 1990 in several countries throughout Europe to consider the role of uncertainty and change in shaping political nations.

Revolution In East-central Europe

Revolution In East-central Europe PDF

Author: David S Mason

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-26

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1000310035

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The year 1989 marked a turning point in world history, a watershed year of unprecedented drama and political significance. No matter how one looks at those events–as the fall of communism, the democratization of Eastern Europe, or the end of the cold war–it is important to understand how the world travelled the distance of time, space, and ideology to arrive at the Berlin Wall and tear it down. David Mason provides that understanding in a concise synthesis of history, politics, economics, sociology, literature, philosophy, and popular, as well as traditional, culture. He shows how all these elements combined to yield the year that effectively closed the twentieth century–and promised to launch the new century on a hopeful note. Starting with Poland's elections in June 1989, the countries of then-communist Eastern Europe one by one revolutionized their governments and their polities; Hungary opened its borders to the West, East Germany rushed through, Czechoslovakia elected Vaclav Havel president, Bulgaria changed both party and leadership, and Romania executed Ceausescu. Although Gorbachev enabled many of these changes, he did not cause them. The illumination of the complex symbiosis between dynamics in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is one of the greatest contributions this book makes. With undercurrents emphasizing the power of ideas, the spirit of youth, and the multifaceted force of culture and ethnicity, Mason takes the reader far beyond the events of change and into their impetus and outcomes. He applies theories of social movements, democratization, and economic transition with an even hand, showing the interaction of their effects not only regionally but worldwide. The concluding chapter puts the revolutions in Eastern Europe into international perspective and highlights their impact on East-West relations, security alliances, and economic integration. Mason discusses the European Community, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Third World in relation to the new East-Central European configuration. Using delightful and provocative cartoons from Eastern European and Soviet presses, interesting photos, valuable tables of data, and illuminating figures, Mason emphasizes important points about the role of nationalism, ethnicity, public opinion, and harsh economic reality in the revolutionary process.

The Long 1989

The Long 1989 PDF

Author: Piotr H. Kosicki

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2019-08-14

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9633862841

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The fall of communism in Europe is now the frame of reference for any mass mobilization, from the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement to Brexit. Even thirty years on, 1989 still figures as a guide and motivation for political change. It is now a platitude to call 1989 a "world event," but the chapters in this volume show how it actually became one. The authors of these nine essays consider how revolutionary events in Europe resonated years later and thousands of miles away: in China and South Africa, Chile and Afghanistan, Turkey and the USA. They trace the circulation of people, practices, and concepts that linked these countries, turning local developments into a global phenomenon. At the same time, they examine the many shifts that revolution underwent in transit. All nine chapters detail the process of mutation, adaptation, and appropriation through which foreign affairs found new meanings on the ground. They interrogate the uses and understandings of 1989 in particular national contexts, often many years after the fact. Taken together, this volume asks how the fall of communism in Europe became the basis for revolutionary action around the world, proposing a paradigm shift in global thinking about revolution and protest.

Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989

Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989 PDF

Author: Sabrina P. Ramet

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-02-18

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 9780521716161

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The only textbook to provide a complete introduction to post-1989 Central and Southeast European politics, this dynamic volume provides a comprehensive account of the collapse of communism and the massive transformation that the region has witnessed. It brings together 23 leading specialists to trace the course of the dramatic changes accompanying democratization. The text provides country-by-country coverage, identifying common themes and enabling students to see which are shared throughout the area, giving them a sense of its unity and comparability whilst strengthening understanding around its many different trajectories. The dual thematic focus on democratization and Europeanization running through the text also helps to reinforce this learning process. Each chapter contains a factual overview to give the reader context concerning the region which will be useful for specialists and newcomers to the subject alike.