This year marks the tenth anniversary of the profound political, economic and social changes that have taken place in the former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. As with all anniversaries, 1999 is a year to look back and assess the progress that has been made and to reflect upon the developments that have yet to take place as the transformation continues. As scholars attempt to make sense of the rapidly changing societies in the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the mature democracies of both Western Europe and the United States, the few remaining divisions between East and West – the last faded and dilapidated remnants of the Iron Curtain – are gradually disintegrating and being replaced by the striking, multicolored banner of a globalized society...
Introduction: A Decade of Transformation
JVF Conference Papers
