Central and Eastern Europe: Europeanization and Social Change (Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy)

The collapse of communism in 1989 paved the way for the reunification of the continent. For Eastern European countries, the reaffirmation of their political, economic and social independence took place simultaneously within a context marked by globabization and the rules of the European union. This book analyses the impact of the different dynamics of change since 1989 on public policy and on various economic and political sectors. The author’s approach is elaborated in terms of strategies, conflicts, alliances and resources anchored in the communist period, sometimes even before, and revitalized by the new rules of the game. He studies the way in which national traditions of sovereignty within the new States combined with 21st century economic and political liberalism. By emphasizing the intensity and rapidity of the dynamics of change which have taken place since 1989, the author shows both the new States’ ability to adopt global and European rules and their determination to subscribe fully to the Europe of today.