The Future Political Options Of Eastern Europe In The Soviet Bloc

The study examines the evolving political options of the Soviet bloc countries within the East-West European political contex. It also describes the degree of autonomy of the bloc regimes from the Soviet Union through an examination of various issues known to have been a source of conflict among them, and it defines the sources of bloc cohesion in an era that has witnessed a significant decline of Soviet authority over the world Communist movement. These factors, together with an examination of transbloc predilections articulated and pursued by the East European regimes before and after the invasion of Czechoslovakia, provide the basis for a projection of the future political options of the bloc countries to the mid-1970s and an assessment of the implications of the conclusions reached for US policy. (Author).

This text asks whether Eastern European societies can escape from the grip of totalitarian domination, and build up Western democratic systems. The author describes recent events in Hungary and compares them with those in other East European countries, before suggesting policies for the future.

This report examines the importance of Eastern Europe to the USSR, the Soviet approach toward the region in the past, and possible future short-term and longer-term Soviet policies toward Eastern Europe. It examines dilemmas facing the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and the Soviet "preferred vision" for a European order that would overcome these dilemmas. It assesses the collapse of the Brezhnev policy toward Eastern Europe, Soviet assessments of its causes, and likely responses.

Will the nations of Eastern Europe become liberal democracies? How has more than 40 years of totalitarian rule transformed the East European psyche? How ill the emerging realities of Eastern Europe affect the rest of Europe and the world? In an effort to answer these questions, Romanian-born scholar Vladimir Tismaneuanu chronicles the turbulent history of this embattled region, from the decades of Soviet domination to the momentous events leading up to and following the Revolution of 1989. He views Eastern Europe as being on the threshold of a great opportunity -- to become reunited, through pan-European arrangements, with the West, and thereby recover its truly European identity. -- From publisher's description.

First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.