Description
Book SynopsisSmiling Sloveniaâs collection of articles and essays on Sloveniaâs current political scene boldly declares its dissenting view from the political mainstream beginning with a declaration of a dozen prominent intellectuals presenting their views of Sloveniaâs political situation. Topics range from recent Slovenian history, Sloveniaâs role in the breakup of Yugoslavia, foreign policies, including liaisons with the Islamic terrorists to modern-day Slovenian-American relations and Sloveniaâs admission into the European Union. This book shows that Slovenia, although outwardly westernized, is still deeply rooted in its communistic legacy. However, prominent intellectuals and democratic politicians strive to hold Slovenia to the highest European cultural, ethical, political, legal, and economical standards in public life â a goal that may take several generations to achieve. Some authors observe that transparency achieved by the present conservative coalition government has already established
Trade Review«Although Slovenia has risen to prominence due to its presidency of the European Union, little is known of its recent history. Vladislav Bevc’s collection of papers – some his own – is a welcome contribution to our knowledge. No one interested in Slovenia should miss this book that shows the difficulties of overcoming the baneful heritage of communism. This problem, to which much attention is devoted in ‘Smiling Slovenia’, transcends borders. In various ways and degrees, it besets other post-communist countries as well.» (Andrzej Brzeski, Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of California, Davis)
«‘Smiling Slovenia’ is a voluminous and well-annotated resource with hard-to-find commentary, position papers, and documents on issues from Slovenian history over the past half-century. The compilation and publication of these items in English will be a spur to necessary discussions and, in addition, might also spark controversy on certain subjects.» (John Cox, Professor of History, North Dakota State University)
