archive

A region called “eastern Europe”

Dana Muntenu (OSU): Placing Thebes and Ithaca in Eastern Europe: Kundera, the Greeks, and I. A review of Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment by Stephen Kotkin. Michael Zantovsky on the gears of 1989. Twenty years after the communist monopoly of power ended in their countries, east Europeans reveal how much their lives have changed. A review of From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union: The Economic and Social Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973 by Ivan Berend. Does the EU possess a strategy for dealing with the type of illiberal politician gaining ground in the Visegrad Four nations? (and two responses) The consequences of bad ideas: An interview with Father Marcel Guarnizo, founder of the Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe (and part 2). What’s left in Eastern Europe? An interview with Stefan Zgliczynski and Jane Hardy. The hidden economy in east-central Europe: Lessons from a ten-nation survey. The economic downturn has made it harder to speak sensibly of a region called “eastern Europe”. Eastern Europe's third wheel: NATO and Russia are getting closer — and leaving Ukraine out. What Viktor Yanukovych's election victory means for Ukraine (and more on Yulia Tymoshenko as Evita). Timothy Snyder on Ukraine's past on trial (and more). The future of EU expansion: It all depends on what the meaning of the word "Macedonia" is. Old rows, new book: Albania and Macedonia quibble over an encyclopaedia. Enver Hoxha's bunkers remind Albanians of the destructive paranoia of their recent past, but they are being re-used by a generation for whom that history is now ancient. Stephen Schwartz debunks the myth of "Homeric" Balkan folk songs. Here are six reasons for marrying a Balkan man.