The Collapse of Communist Regimes and the Role of International Factors (1985-1992)

János Simon

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 18卷1期 (2022/07) Pp. 145-161

摘要

Most of the literature regarding regime change in Central Europe has focused on domestic political life, while little attention has been paid to the landslide changes that took place in the international arena in relation to the great powers. Study has analyzed the collapse of one of the poles in the bipolar world order, the Soviet Union, which made it possible to rearrange the lines of power and to liberate and democratize the Central European countries. Among the liberated countries in Central Europe, this study takes an in-depth look at Hungary. The success of the Reagan doctrine was based on the following five strategic principles: (1) the war in Afghanistan; (2) Star Wars plans; (3) the introduction of an embargo on the COCOM list; (4) the fall in world oil prices; and (5) the return to dollar and gold settlements. The study further distinguishes three technical types of exercise of power by the state socialist regime's politics: (1) deficit-oriented policies; (2) social welfare-oriented policies; and (3) consumption-oriented policies, which defined the character of the authoritarian systems whose effects are still felt today in the behavior of citizens.

關鍵字

Bipolar world ； complex transition ； democratization ； geopolitics ； regime change ； state socialism

參考文獻

Hendrik Hertzberg and David Remnick, Politics: Observations and Arguments 1966-2004 (New York: Penguin Press, 2004), 681.

Leonardo Morlino, Changes for Democracy: Actors, Structures, Processes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, The Withering Away of the Totalitarian State (London: AEI Press, 1994)

Pippa Norris, Critical Citizens-Global Support for Democratic Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)

Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 479.