International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Eastern Europe's Tragedy

Taras Bilous — 2022-09-04T17:33:53Z

“The Russian-Ukrainian war put an end to the post-Soviet period. The nature of the emergent period, including our current moment, will be decided on the battlefield. If Ukraine wins, we will finally have a chance for progressive changes not only in Ukraine, but also in the larger post-Soviet space.”

- 2022 - Ukraine / Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Ukraine debate

The rulers of the great powers are playing with fire

Gilbert Achcar — 2022-01-30T16:25:37Z

“Thus, between renewed Russian belligerence and continued US arrogance, the world finds itself on the brink of a disaster that could greatly accelerate the annihilation of humanity, to which our planet is moving by way of environmental degradation and global warming.”

- IV564 - January 2022 / United States (USA), Europe, Russia, Eastern Europe

In the name of the communist ideal

Catherine Samary — 2020-06-15T15:40:13Z

One of the received ideas that became a ‘truth' after the fall of the Berlin Wall was that the Soviet bloc's populations cursed communism, yet obeyed it slavishly. In fact, many social movements within the Eastern bloc had long aspired to genuine socialism.

- IV545 - June 2020 / Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Eastern Europe, Historical events and figures

Eastern Europe: revisiting the ambiguous revolutions of 1989

Catherine Samary — 2019-11-27T20:29:10Z

The year 1989 saw a profound upheaval in the geopolitical order established after the Second World War symbolised by the fall of the Berlin wall on 9 November 1989. This essay examines the effects, implications and context in Eastern Europe.

- IV538 - November 2019 / Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Eastern Europe, Ex-Yugoslavia, Romania

Eastern Europe faced with the crises of the system

Catherine Samary — 2010-09-29T12:54:29Z

European construction aroused popular aspirations, which were radically opposed to what is actually happening: aspirations for a continent that would resist antisocial policies while being open to the world, according to a democratic, social, ecological and solidarity-based logic… This was in particular what was hoped for in Eastern Europe, where the populations aspired to live better and more freely. Their hopes were profoundly disappointed, preparing the ground for xenophobic currents…
Understanding what were the turns that history took, where things went wrong, understanding the present crisis is essential for the peoples to be able to re-appropriate their choices and thus their future.

- IV428 - September 2010 / Economy, Eastern Europe

Towards a Western/Eastern Europe Banking and Social Tsunami

Catherine Samary — 2009-05-06T20:37:37Z

Since the fall of 'Communism' Eastern Europe has been presented as a capitalist success story. The credit crunch and capitalist recession is dramatically revealing how hollow this claim is.

- IV412 - May 2009 / Economy, Eastern Europe

David Mandel's â€˜Labour After Communism'

John Riddell — 2005-02-26T20:42:07Z

David Mandel shares his unrivaled knowledge of the union movement in these countries, drawing on innumerable discussions with workers and worker activists.

- IV365 - March 2005 / Eastern Europe, Reviews

Foreign investment and capitalist enterprise

Catherine Samary — 2002-03-07T00:00:00Z

The privatisations and opening to foreign capital have been characterized systematically - from Albania to Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic - by recurring corruption scandals, rigged financial deals and privatisations of state functions.

- IV338 - March 2002 / Eastern Europe