From Post-Communism Toward the Third Millennium—Aspects of Political and Economic Development in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from 2000-2005

This volume presents an overview of the political and economic developments in Eastern and South Eastern Europe in the years 2000 to 2005. Unlike the Central European states that achieved EU membership in 2004 and 2007, the countries in this volume, Bulgaria being the exception, share but one characteristic: diversity. One could call the phenomenon of the region’s variety and diversity the Eastern European pluralism of development. The essays present detailed analyses of the region’s main problems: corruption and bribery on all levels of society; a lack of transparency of state-business relations; a distinct disinterest in international critique or, rather, a distinct insistence on sovereignty and the refusal to adapt to European humanitarian standards of ethnic and religious tolerance. The essays are based on unique source material from the countries under scrutiny.

Josette Baer, PD PhD, is lecturer in political theory, with a focus on Eastern Europe, at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She is the author of Revolution, modus vivendi or sovereignty? (2010); Slavic thinkers (2007) and Preparing Liberty in Central Europe (2006). Baer has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, such as Democratisation, East European Thought, Swiss Political Science Review and Balkanistica.