TOL STORE BY COUNTRY "Lithuania"

Totalitarianism and the Prospects for World Order: Closing the Door on the Twentieth Century
(Applications of Political Theory)

Concentration camp survivor, former Marxist Leninist, and Lithuanian patriot, Aleksandras Shtromas devoted his life to understanding totalitarianism and political change. He was a remarkably prescient thinker and is probably best known for his prediction of the fall of the Soviet Union, forecast at a time when the mighty empire seemed almost invincible. This posthumous collection of writings, edited by Robert Faulkner and Daniel I. Mahoney, addresses some of the topics that preoccupied Shtromas throughout his life, including totalitarian regimes, post-communist transitions, the fates of the Baltic states, and the nature of political revolutions.

The Shadow of Death: The Holocaust in Lithuania

Holocaust survivor Harry Gordon recalls in brutal detail the anguished years of his youth, a youth spent struggling to survive in a Lithuanian concentration camp. A memoir about hope and resilience, The Shadow of Death describes the invasion of Kovno by the Red Army and the impact of Soviet occupation from the perspective of the ghetto’s weakest and poorest class. It also serves as a reminder that the Germans were not alone responsible for the persecution and extermination of Jews.

Harry Gordon emigrated to the United States in 1949 and now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

The EU's Transformative Power: Europeanization through Conditionality in Central and Eastern Europe

Between 1989 and 2004, the EU's conditionality for membership transformed Central and East Europe. The EU had enormous potential power over the whole range of domestic politics in the candidate countries. However, the EU was able to use that power at a few key points in the process leading to their accession. The EU's long-term influence worked primarily through soft power and through voluntary rather than coercive means. During the membership preparations, the EU built many different routes of influence into the candidate countries' domestic policy-making through 'Europeanization'. The Central and East Europeans voluntarily took on the Union's norms and methods, guided by the European Commission, in a massive transfer of policies and institutions. However, the EU missed important opportunities to effect change as well. The EU's Transformative Power explores in detail how the EU used its influence to control the movement of people across Europe, through both coercive use of conditionality and voluntary methods of Europeanization.

State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia

Looks at the process of state-building in Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia from a political economy and institutional perspective. Weak and distorted state capacity has come to be widely recognized as a key obstacle to successful transformation—including economic modernization and growth as well as the consolidation of democracy. However, so far little systematic research has been carried out on state capacity per se and on how to explain its development.
The book provides new insights in considering the evolution of Ukraine since 1992, offering an in-depth view of institutional development in crucial areas and thus tracing the process of state-building. It draws comparisons with developments in Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia (based on field research). To capture the process of state-building empirically, focuses on the extraction and expenditure systems which are a central pillar of state capacity and also a central link between citizens and the state. The book also sheds light on how Ukraine’s potential ‘second transition’ currently under way will have an impact on its institutional system.

Now into its fifth edition, Lithuania is an invaluable guide for planning a memorable vacation in this most hospitable of European countries. Some of the many attractions featured are the atmospheric Hill of Crosses at Siauliai, the charming seaside town of Palanga and the provincial town of Kaunas with its museums and botanical gardens. For those seeking a tranquil retreat by the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Spit National Park is well covered, with its town of Nida perched amongst a wilderness of dunes. An overview of the country’s chequered history is provided in addition to all the information necessary to create the perfect itinerary.

Minority rights is an important issue in all modern states, but for those countries hoping to join the European Union the protection of minorities is a key condition for success in the accession process.This book provides a comprehensive assessment of minority rights in Central and Eastern Europe, covering all the countries of the region that have joined the EU since 2004, including Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. For each country it outlines the major developments since 1989, highlights the salient issues in minority rights politics, assesses the actual implementation of policies and legislation, explores the roles that domestic and international factors have played - including the impact of the EU succession process - and discusses whether there have been any major changes once EU accession was secured. Overall, this book is important for all those interested in European integration and minority rights politics, as well as for specialists on Central and Eastern Europe.