After the Fall: The Pursuit of Democracy in Central Europe

In the wake of communism's demise, Goldfarb ( Beyond Glasnost ) is cautiously optimistic that democracy will emerge in the newly independent nation-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Fusing political analysis, reportage and encounters with Adam Michnik, Vaclav Havel and other prominent figures, he identifies the reconstructed Soviet Union--tilting toward economic collapse or military dictatorship--as the prime danger still facing the former Iron Curtain countries. A political scientist at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, he muses on other dangers facing the emergent democracies: nationalist tensions both within and between republics, unfamiliarity with the workings of a market economy, Poland's politically influential church, and anti-Semitism. His poignant reflections are an incisive remainder that democracy does not automatically deliver the goods. (Mar.)