This course examines critical periods in Central and East European politics: the emergence and experiences of newly restored independent states in the aftermath of the First World War, the Second World War and subsequent imposition of communist regimes, their evolution and rapid and largely unanticipated collapse in 1989, and finally, the on-going transitions to democracy and a market economy as well as the Europeanization process. The course is designed to: (1) provide a general introduction to Central and East European politics, (2) survey existing interpretations of social, political...