communism

It was a long yearning of mine to write a short piece about political caricature in 19th century France. I will not. Not because I wouldn’t want to, or I wouldn’t think it’s interesting, but because you wouldn’t. I know this, because upon getting inspired to the brink of writing, I asked 4Liberty’s excellent editor, […]

The COVID-19 crisis was used quickly and efficiently – now that there was no need for protests, he was disposed of: General Konev, Marshal of the Soviet Union. Not himself, of course, but his monument in the Prague district Bubeneč.

The regime change in the former Eastern Bloc may rarely be connected to one specific date. It is rather considered a process which took place between 1989 and 1990. Of course,there were several important events. But none of them could be identified solely as “the” one that signifies the change of a regime.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was not only the beginning of the reunification of the Germans, it was also one of several events that in the months and years to come would have more than 100 million people, including Estonians, successfully turn their back to communism.

30 years ago the Velvet Revolution began with a demonstration in Prague. It started all of a sudden. Then, it all happened very quickly. The communist regime, which had remained in power by force since 1948, had become hollow and rotten in Czechoslovakia.

One of the problems with the economic progress in the transition countries from socialism to market economy is the state of property rights. You can improve business environment, trade, or monetary systems but never progress if the property (rights) is not protected well.

We commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact armies\' invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, an event that in many respects showed to the whole world the desperation of people struggling for self-determination under totalitarian regimes.

Marx is on a victory march. Even in Slovakia. And despite the local uproar caused by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker´s recent visit to Marx´s childhood nest to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the philosopher´s birth by celebrating his intellectual heritage.

The Visio institute has just published the second issue of The Visio Journal, which offers several papers analyzing the degree to which the public policies and political institutions of former socialist economies have been supportive of economic freedom following the collapse of communism.

The Visio Journal invites suggestions for articles to the forthcoming issue devoted to “The Former Centrally Planned Economies 25 Years After the Fall of Communism”. Here you may find the call and a supporting document. The deadline for a submission of the proposal is January 5, 2018.