Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Graph, and Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Ordering from the Menu in Central Europe
- 1 Emulation as Embedded Rationalism
- 2 Emulation as Rapid Modernization: Health Care and Consumer Protection
- 3 Emulation Under Pressure: Regional Policy and Agriculture
- 4 The Struggle for Civilian Control of the Military
- 5 Military Professionalization in War and Peace
- 6 Using Theory to Illuminate the Cases
- 7 Synthesis and Sequence: Juxtaposing Theory Traditions
- 8 Extensions and Conclusions
- Appendix: Selected List of Persons Interviewed
- Works Cited
- Index
Preface and Acknowledgments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Graph, and Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Ordering from the Menu in Central Europe
- 1 Emulation as Embedded Rationalism
- 2 Emulation as Rapid Modernization: Health Care and Consumer Protection
- 3 Emulation Under Pressure: Regional Policy and Agriculture
- 4 The Struggle for Civilian Control of the Military
- 5 Military Professionalization in War and Peace
- 6 Using Theory to Illuminate the Cases
- 7 Synthesis and Sequence: Juxtaposing Theory Traditions
- 8 Extensions and Conclusions
- Appendix: Selected List of Persons Interviewed
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
A simple transfer of Western habits, norms, and laws to Eastern Europe cannot but produce a disaster.
(Ekiert and Zielonka 2003: 23)A “simple transfer” implies a superficial and mechanical act. Anyone who has studied political and economic change in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the postcommunist era has become well acquainted with superficial and mechanical transfers. Though I will argue that there is a lot more going on in the region — much of it positive — the analogy of a “simple transfer” is worth a moment's reflection. Like all analogies, this one simplifies some aspects of a complicated reality in order to crystallize an essential point or a key trend. In this case, the point is that simply admiring and adopting Western practices is likely to cause more problems than it solves — indeed, to cause “disaster.”
In the long process of writing this book, I have cited several analogies about the transformation of Eastern Europe. One favorite is the aria competition, an old story that Martin Krygier (2002) has applied to CEE. The analogy is based on an aria competition with two entrants. After the first singer finishes, the judges immediately award first place to the second singer, figuring there was no way she could be as bad as the first. Krygier goes on to note that CEE citizens thought communism was so bad that postcommunism simply had to be better.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Enlargement of the European Union and NATOOrdering from the Menu in Central Europe, pp. xi - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004