Description
Book SynopsisThis book examines the politics and international relations of Central Europe (the Visegrád Four) three decades after the fall of communism. Once bound together by a common geopolitical vision of returning to the West, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia now find themselves in a more ambiguous position. The 2015 European migration crisis exposed serious normative differences with Western Europe, leading to a collective V4 rebellion against the European Union''s migration policies. At the same time, as this book demonstratesdespite this normative rift with Western Europe and despite the democratic backsliding in some of the V4 statesthey remain deeply dependent on the West in both symbolic and material terms. Furthermore, ways in which individual Central European states position themselves vis-a-vis the West exhibit notable differences, informed by their specific political and cultural legacies. The author examines these in separate country chapters. This book also cont
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What is the meaning of the idea of 'Central Europe' in the twenty-first century? How have European crises of the last two decades transformed this meaning? How important is post-communist trajectory of the 'Visegrad Four' in understanding the political future of the EU? These are only some of the questions that Aliaksei Kazharski discusses in his important and provocative book.
-- Ivan Krastev, Chairman, Center for Liberal Studies, Sofia
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Central Europe as a Counter-Hegemonic Concept
Chapter 2: “The End of Central Europe?” The European Migration Crisis and the Contestation of Identities in the Visegrád Four
Chapter 3: An ad hoc Region: On Central Europe’s Embedded Revisionism
Chapter 4: Czech Republic and Slovakia: The Post-Crisis Core-Periphery Debate
Chapter 5: Poland: Heroic Failures and Tragic Resistance
Chapter 6: Hungary: The Freedom Fight of an Ideological Entrepreneur
Chapter 7: The Pandemic is What the Populists make of it? The Virus Signifier and Identity Politics in the Visegrád Four
Conclusion: Did the Return to Europe Become a Return to the Margin?
References
About the Author
