Préface

Sergiu Mișcoiu analyzes the post-communist transition of Central and Eastern Europe, contrasting the initial "orthodox" belief in linear Westernization with a more "realistic," oscillatory reality. While early theories predicted a definitive triumph of liberal democracy, recent crises have fueled democratic backsliding, structural inequality, and rising nationalism. Mișcoiu argues that CEECs now mirror Latin American patterns rather than Western ones, urging civil society to actively defend European values against authoritarian drifts and elite capture. THIS ABSTRACT IS GENERATED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.