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Vol 1, No 23, 29 November 1999
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D E B A T E:
Apologists Rejoice!
Kieran Williams
It's no secret that Prague Castle has been on the offensive to discredit John Keane's new critical biography of Vaclav Havel. Unfortunately, Keane seems to have shot himself in the foot before the battle's even begun. In an exclusive for CER, Kieran Williams, an independent authority on Czech politics, reveals how Keane's book is fraught with errors of fact, omissions and sloppy scholarship.
S O U T H E A S T:
Clinton's Pep-talk in Sofia
Zhidas Daskalovski
On 22 November, tens of thousands of cheering people gathered in Sofia to hear Bill Clinton tell them "you too shall overcome." Why didn't he deliver the same message to Macedonia?
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| Pozsony to some |
S L O V A K I A:
Reversing Xenophobia
Paul Nemes
Just over a year ago, an anti-Meciar coalition toppled Slovakia's nationalist government. Two weeks ago, the Hungarian component of the new "rainbow coalition" met for their annual conference to assess how the reversal of Meciar's xenophobic policies is proceeding.
C Z E C H R E P U B L I C:
A Decade of Change... to Come
Robin Healey
Czech universities have gone through significant changes over the past decade. They will need to go through even more in the next. Can they rise to the challenge?
 C Z E C H R E P U B L I C:
Taxing the Professionals (part 2)
Kazi Stastna
While MPs debate the murky points of taxing prostitution and foreign funders pull their NGO support out of the country, Czech social workers are having to face some of the industry's less glamorous aspects head-on.
 Theme of the week:
Regional Lumping
After NATO expansion, where does Eastern Europe really begin and end? Does any regional classification system make sense today?
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LIKE IT OR LUMP IT:
Why the "Baltic States"?
Mel Huang
Over the years, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have been lumped together as the "Baltic states" in terms of geography, history and politics. The designation has been a mixed blessing: it makes the three small countries seem larger than they really are but also dilutes their uniqueness. |
LIKE IT OR LUMP IT:
Nomen est Omen?
Sasa Cvijetic
There has hardly been a notion in this century as burdened by negative connotation as "the Balkans." What used to be a geographic toponym became a means of defamation and a synonym for partition, tribal conflict and retrograde political agendas. |
LIKE IT OR LUMP IT:
To File the World
Wojtek Kosc
The emerging system of lumping in Europe is becoming clear: EU on the one side and non-EU on the other. |
LIKE IT OR LUMP IT:
Re-defining East and West
Catherine Lovatt
H J Mackinder's "heartland" theory has been used to explain the geopolitics of much of the 20th century. Did 1989 throw a spanner in the works? |
LIKE IT OR LUMP IT:
A "Kidnapped Central Europe"
Magali Perrault
In the early 1980s, the Czech writer Milan Kundera described Central Europe as "a kidnapped Occident." In many respects, the Austrian experience between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the Communist bloc in 1989 is the reverse story - the tale of a "kidnapped Central Europe." |
CER's Regular Columnists:
 CULIK'S CZECH REPUBLIC:
A Fistful of Impressions
Jan Culik
On a recent tour around the Czech Republic, I spent the last ten days or so giving talks and interviews. Here is a mixed bag of my impressions, ranging from
the most recent political developments in the Czech Republic to insights I
have gained from talking to readers. |
 BALKAN ENCOUNTER:
In the Wake of Broken Promises
Sam Vaknin
Macedonia is saddled with popular misconceptions and erroneous impressions. Will prejudice alone kill the Macedonian economy? |
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Kinoeye
This week, Kinoeye looks at the 9th Festival of Young East European Cinema which took place earlier this month in the German town of Cottbus. |
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TRENDS:
An Obsession with Image
Andrew J Horton
Polish cinema has, perhaps, successfully out-trashed any of its Central European neighbours when it comes to low-quality film-making. Fortunately, there are still some diamonds to be found amongst the ashes. |
THE KINOEYE ARCHIVE
Resources on Central and East European cinema.
Books and Literature
S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Book Shop:
Books about Central and Eastern Europe
Have a look at CER's list of books on the region - all available from Amazon.com. The list is divided into five subject headings: cinema, literature, politics, history and economics.
M u s i c
S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Music Shop
In co-operation with Amazon.com, Central Europe Review offers you this on-line shopping supplement.
O n D i s p l a y
EVENTS:
Coming Up in the UK
Andrew J Horton
Details of selected Central and East European cultural events in the UK over the next few weeks.
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