Understanding 1989

Abstract

Two and a half decades have passed since the formidable tumult called by many the upheaval in the East —the chain of dramatic events that led to the accomplishment of what most among us thought to be unthinkable: the collapse of communist regimes, the end of a system that seemed destined to last forever. The revolutions of 1989 resulted in the rehabilitation of individual dignity after decades of dictatorial domination. The post-1989 East-Central Europe has been a battlefield between proponents of civic-liberal values and supporters of populist, ethnocentric, illiberal movements. Pre-communist and Communist legacies continue to influence the democratic transitions.