From Free Life, Issue 26, December 1996
ISSN: 0260 5112

East Central Europe, as defined by the author is that part of Europe currently occupied by the states of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The word "currently" is used advisedly. The latter two states only came into being at the beginning of 1993 when the former Czechoslovakia was divided peacefully into two component parts.

Borders have historically been fluid in East Central Europe and the twentieth century has seen two major conflicts grow out of aggressor states' ambitions in the region. World War II was sparked by the German invasion of Poland, and latterly, the region was the frontline of the Cold War. Much of the region formed a staging area for the Red Army, and if that army was never employed against the NATO alliance, the inhabitants of Poland, Czechoslovakia and most infamously Hungary in 1956, certainly felt its teeth.

As a hinterland between the west and east, these countries are of vital strategic importance and instability in eastern Europe can only have deleterious effects for the countries of the European Union and indeed for the successor states of the Soviet Union.

In this book, Adrian Hyde-Price attempts to explore the history and politics of the region and its relationship with the neighbouring states, both east and west. He also attempts to draw likely scenarios for the future.

The book deals admirably with the history of the area from the medieval period onwards, its political culture and the potentially explosive mix of ethnic groups which sprawl across frontiers which have changed many times over the centuries. It begins to lose its way with a discussion of the bilateral and multilateral arrangements between the four states, reading rather like a sprawling discursive essay than the concise analysis of where power is concentrated at the moment and where it is likely to shift to in the near future. Similarly too much space is devoted to the various regional talking shops that have been established in the aftermath of the collapse of Soviet power, but which have yet to make any real impact on the European stage.

However it is chapters 6 and 7 that make this book worth reading. These contain concise analyses of the world-shaking developments in eastern Europe in the last eight years and the dilemmas faced both by the east and west in accommodating them. The east, facing a simplistic dilemma as to whether or not to send in the tanks and the west about whether to open its closed European Union shop and embrace a genuine union of east and west with all the economic and political consequences attendant.

The fact is faced that for many parties it does not make sense for the European Union to be extended to its geographical limits. The result of admitting Poland, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia would be a dilution of the Franco-German axis currently dominant, a further obstacle to monetary union, a shift in priorities from subsidising the Club Med countries out of European funds and strained relations (it is thought) with the former Soviet Union.

The fact that a failure to foster democratic institutions and economic development in these countries may lead to civil unrest, nationalist activity and ultimately to collapse or the re-establishment of authoritarianism may well be coming behind narrow sectarian interests.

In this respect British calls by John Major to widen rather than deepen the European Union may well be seen to be prescient in terms of future events. Similarly, with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, a need exists to create a regional security settlement for East Central Europe, as members of NATO or the WEU or a new body.

The conclusion of the book points out various possible routes for the future but none lead to integration of the lost half of Europe in the near future. The picture it paints for the next decade is not encouraging but, the value of this book lies in alerting people to the complexities of the issues which face both us and those people in Skodas on the other side of the Elbe.

Andrew Hogan