Where did the West fail in Transforming Eastern Europe?

The 1990s ushered in an era of widespread governmental support for liberal democracy and an opportunity to build civil society in countries where there had long been a dearth of public space separate from government control. The establishment of the funds—the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe, the Baltic-American Partnership Fund, the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkan Trust for Democracy, and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation—reflected a spirit of optimism about the prospects for civil society as an intrinsic part of democracy. The funds were able to help establish the policies and institutions of an enabling environment for civil society. In comparison to the past, the political environment has changed dramatically, but we are faced with alternative governmental models, often at odds with the liberal democratic model we naively assumed would become and remain permanent.  Read more here.

Source: Global Focus

The 1990s ushered in an era of widespread governmental support for liberal democracy and an opportunity to build civil society in countries where there had long been a dearth of public space separate from government control. The establishment of the funds—the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe, the Baltic-American Partnership Fund, the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkan Trust for Democracy, and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation—reflected a spirit of optimism about the prospects for civil society as an intrinsic part of democracy. The funds were able to help establish the policies and institutions of an enabling environment for civil society. In comparison to the past, the political environment has changed dramatically, but we are faced with alternative governmental models, often at odds with the liberal democratic model we naively assumed would become and remain permanent.  Read more here.

Source: Global Focus