The Bloc That Failed: Soviet-East European Relations In Transition
Reviewed by Lucy Despard
Having begun this study a couple of years ago, Gati gets the jump on his fellows in describing 1989's unexpected revolutions against the backdrop of the developments of the Gorbachev years and, in summary form, the entire communist period of Eastern Europe. In dealing with the interaction of new winds from the U.S.S.R. since 1985, the defensive instincts and interests of the East European communist regimes and popular pressures for change, Gati gives us excellent analysis and synthesis with, perforce, some guessing where the record is fuzzy. This "cautiously optimistic" look into the future seems insufficiently cautious and unduly optimistic. Nationality conflicts, long the hallmark of politics in this region, are given minimal attention.
