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One Year Later: The Transformation of Eastern Europe
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17167 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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Date : |
12 / 1990 |
3,215 Words |
| Author
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Robert R. King
Robert R. King, the author of Minorities Under Communism:
Nationalities as a Source of Tension Among Balkan Communist
States (Harvard University Press, 1973), worked in East
European affairs at the National Security Council in the
Carter White House. He is former assistant director of
research at Radio Free Europe in Munich, West Germany, and
currently works on Capital Hill. |
Just one year ago, newspapers around the world were dominated by euphoric stories about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. On incredible headline followed another - "Solidarity Overwhelms Polish Communists in Free Election!" "Soviets OK Noncommunist Prime Minister in Poland!" "Hungary Opens Borders - 15,000 East Germans Flee!" "Berlin Wall Tumbles!" "Palace Coup against Bulgarian Communist Leader!" "Velvet Revolution Topples Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia!" "Bloody Revolt in Romania-Ceausescu Executed!"
It is now just one year later. The tumult and the shouting have died, and world attention has shifted elsewhere. Instead of jostling for space on the perch overlooking the crumbling Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate or vying to interview leaders of the emerging democratic opposition in Budapest, world television cameras are competing to film Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and the American media are straining over nuances in the latest White House-Congress battle of the federal budget.
In Eastern Europe, the euphoria is over. The hard, cold consequences of political and economic change have set in. The heady, headline-dominating events of last year were only the beginning, and the tough choices that these countries are now making have enormous consequences for their future-and for the future of Europe as a whole.
From a distance, Eastern Europe sometimes appeared to be a uniform, gray communist monolith, but even at the apex of Stalinist conformity, there were significant divergences between its countries. And just as there were important variations in Eastern European communism, there are substantial differences in the
... (1991 of 20679 Characters)
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