The road from paradise: prospects for democracy in Eastern Europe

Abstract

Are we really at the of history, as some have claimed? Has the United States really won the Cold War? Will liberal democracy now triumph over nationalism and totalitarianism? The authors of this book warn that history may already have returned in newly free Eastern Europe, with war in the Balkans, capitalism not yet established, and a number of new democracies already turning autocratic. The West has responded to these sinister developments with paralysis and confusion. The 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe occurred in a period when Western intellectuals were involved in a confusing discourse on a number of other dramatic endings: the end of modernity, the end of the century, even the possible end of sociology. Against this backdrop, the authors focus on continuities based on the habits of the heart of those who threw off communism in Eastern Europe, contrasting them with Western modes of thought. Their cultural explanation draws on theories of Tocqueville, Durkheim, and others to examine positive as well as negative aspects of the nations that survived communism. While focusing on the Balkans, they also make cautious prognoses for the rest of Eastern Europe. They conclude that, in addition to the scenario desired by the West - establishment of a market economy, democracy, and pluralism in postcommunist lands - other possible scenarios need to be recognized, including continued balkanization, conflict, and chaos, and the emergence of new totalitarian states. If the West is to plant democracy in Eastern Europe, it must base its actions on a realistic appraisal of the historical and cultural forces at work. Boosterish optimism and unrealistic hopes, they warn, are anunrealistic response to the fall of communism.