In the aftermath of the Second World War, many Western intellectuals doubted that Germany could become a democratic, civilized nation again. Yet, in less than a generation, the Germans did it by adopting a federal constitution carefully constraining those close to levers of power, engineering an economic miracle, and holding many (though not all) of those complicit in Nazi atrocities accountable.When communism collapsed in 1989, there were fewer doubts about the bright future of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. In fact, even the prospect of Russia’s eventual joining of NATO and the European Economic Community was not seen as completely …read more
Source:: The American Interest
