The Fall of the Soviet Union and Reunification of Europe - commentairesThe Fall of the Soviet Union and Reunification of Europe2010-11-23T04:12:14Zhttps://www.taurillon.org/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-and-reunification-of-europe#comment87852010-11-23T04:12:14Z<p>so no continuation of the post-Soviet Union fall ?</p>The Fall of the Soviet Union and Reunification of Europe2009-06-01T14:54:20Zhttps://www.taurillon.org/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-and-reunification-of-europe#comment68512009-06-01T14:54:20Z<p>this helped me and a class mate get some of what we needed for our research. thank you :)</p>The Fall of the Soviet Union and Reunification of Europe2008-05-07T22:22:29Zhttps://www.taurillon.org/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-and-reunification-of-europe#comment43102008-05-07T22:22:29Z<p><i>Great article, I think it is really useful base for discussion. A few things plague me as I read the article. I wonder where the article would take the discussion if it didn't just end at the fall of the Soviet Union, and instead provided a narrative of the evolution of democracy in former Soviet Republics since that time.</i></p>
<p>I agree that it would be better not to stop with the end of the Soviet era, but also to talk about the evolution of these countries during the 90s. I saw this evolution from inside and would be glad to share my experience with those who didn't. The problem is technical : few people read long articles, and I think this was already too long. But promise, I will do my best to convience my boss to allow me to publish an article on CEE.</p>The Fall of the Soviet Union and Reunification of Europe2008-05-07T10:02:59Zhttps://www.taurillon.org/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-and-reunification-of-europe#comment43082008-05-07T10:02:59Z<p>Great article, I think it is really useful base for discussion. A few things plague me as I read the article. I wonder where the article would take the discussion if it didn't just end at the fall of the Soviet Union, and instead provided a narrative of the evolution of democracy in former Soviet Republics since that time.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, despite the work of perestroika and glasnost in bringing down the formal reign of communism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the problem of political patronage is a legacy that persists in these nations. Simply by virtue of the fact that communist party bosses and infrastructure (phone lines, party headquarter offices, local/regional staffs) were well-established, they continue to be the only political parties with any sort of capacity for grassroots campaigning. As a result, during the first elections in many of these newly-freed countries, the socialist parties (populated by members of the former ruling communist parties) captured the vote in most of the elections. And, from what I have experienced in working in former Soviet republics, these parties that wield so much power run the nations very much as they were run before the fall of the Iron Curtain.</p>
<p>So the question I would pose to other readers is this : what effect has the fall of the USSR really had upon the freedom and evolution of democratic political systems in Central and Eastern Europe ? Has there been any at all ?</p>