Final Assignment!

For your final project I would like you to write a paper concerning the post-socialist transformation that your state is currently progressing through. For this project you should discuss the following topics:

A Recap of the Communist Era

• What was life like under communism in your country? Was the political situation as harsh and hopeless as it was in other Central-East European states?
• Were there any distinctions about communism in your country that were not covered in our readings or the films we watched in class? If so, what were they?
• What industries did your state heavily participate in – did it “specialize” in any industries under communism?

A Summary of the Ongoing Transformation

• How has the post-communist transformation proceeded in your countries?
• What political challenges or hurdles have occurred since the collapse of the Iron Curtain?
• What economic challenges have arisen? How has your state attempted to privatize all of the wealth in their countries?
• What role has direct foreign investment (FDI) played in the economic development of your state?
• How has your state acted geopolitically since the collapse of the Iron Curtain? What organizations and states has it aligned itself with? How have its alliances, allies, and disposition toward neighbors and the world community changed and evolved since 1989/91?
• How have nationalist sentiments manifested themselves since the collapse of the socialist ideal? How has nationalism influenced your state’s post-socialist development – if at all?

Final Product

You will turn in a seven-to-ten (6-8) page paper, double-spaced, 12-point serif font, that covers these questions. You should have at least three academic sources (books or journal articles) and 12 sources total (e.g., magazine, newspaper, or online news agency articles). Up to two encyclopedic sources can count toward your 12 sources (e.g., Wikipedia, CIA World Factbook, etc.). If you have any questions or trouble finding your sources, let me know early on.

Due
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 by 5pm.

Two more readings for the middle of next week.

Please read the two chapters entitled by the middle of next week:

• What was Socialism/Communism?
• Want to Control People?

I hope you enjoy the Drakulic book and I look forward to discussing it with you all on Friday!

Best,

Ian

Kosovo Erupting

Of course, this has to happen while we are on Spring Break:

UN troops are withdrawing from Serbian towns due to rioting and injuries to French soldiers. This reminds me of "No Man's Land" in a way. Could be interesting to keep an eye on if you are not in Playa del Carmen.

Story here.

Film Next Week: "No Man's Land"

Dear Class:

Because you were such good sports this past week with my swapping things around on you, we are going to watch a film this week before we discuss Peter Maass. The film is called "No Man's Land." It won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2002. It is about the Bosnian War but rather than emphasizing the brutality of the war itself, it analyzes the situation with a distinctly dark, absurdist Central European perspective. We will begin watching this film on Monday and finish it on Wednesday. I need a volunteer to lead discussion about the film and the Maass reading for Friday.

Also, you should attempt to finish the Ian Buruma book by next week (let's say have it done by the 10th, but we may not discuss it until the 12th or 14th of March.

Finally, your map test will be the week before Spring Break. I am loath to have you take it on a Friday. So which of the two days would you prefer -- Monday or Wednesday? We should discuss this in class tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a good weekend!

Prost,

Ian

There will be blood

My apologies for getting this up so late. Please have this information ready to discuss briefly on Monday. Also type up your answers in bullet form on your blog via a "post."

–Demographic information such as population data, language, religion, and economic info

–History of the state and history of the dominant nation(s) in the state

–Famous people from that state

–Cultural arts, traditions, and traits associated with the nation(s) in that state

–States / Nations that your state has historically aligned itself with or had conflicts with

–Larger institutions that your state currently belongs to (e.g., UN, NATO, WTO, etc.)

Balkan War III

Kosovo may be thrown into civil war on the first day of its independence this weekend. Watch out... this seriously could turn into a very nasty, perhaps genocidal, situation. All eyes on Kosovo this weekend. We will talk about it on Monday.

Story from IHT.

Oh, and Putin has called Kosovar independence "immoral." Not quite sure if he explains why, though.

Story from the Guardian here.