This book examines the effect of post-Soviet transitions on current problem solving trends with regards to world capitalism. The fall of Soviet communism left liberal capitalism as the dominant blueprint from which to construct economic development policies. Using Central Europe as an example it is shown that the application of the Western liberal-capitalist model has not been without its difficulties. This book endeavours to place the changes to the global political economy, since 1989, in a theoretical and historical context.

ELIZABETH DE BOER-ASHWORTH is an Associate of the Centre for Governance and Public Management at the University of Limerick. She is the author of several reports and journal articles.

ARNO TAUSCH is Associate Visiting Professor of Political Science at Innsbruck University, Austria.

List of Tables Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction Western Development Approaches Central Europe: Introduction to the Case Studies Poland Czech Republic Hungary The E.U. Effect and the Question of Eastern Enlargement Summary and Conclusion Bibliography Index