Civil Society Watch

The resurgence of nationalism after the collapse of communism startled many observers in the West. What could have been more stark than the contrast between Western and Eastern Europe? As the European Community pursued new modes of integration, nationalist virulence asserted itself in more than one of the previously communist lands. The bloody unravelling of Yugoslavia has been the most potent example, and the fear remains that the former Soviet Union could become Yugoslavia writ large. Evidently, Leninist and Stalinist dominion led neither to a withering away nor to the successful repression of national sentiments. At the same time, as the processes of integration have proceeded, xenophobia has intensified in Western Europe.