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Letters:Strong leaders or history?
- Article from:
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The Independent - London
- Article date:
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August 27, 1995
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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TONY BARBER'S argument that the varying fortunes of
post-Communist Eastern European countries shows the importance of
strong leaders rather than the broader tides of history
demonstrates only that his appreciation of history does not go back
far enough ("It could have been different", 27 August).
All the countries he cites as having achieved democracy,
pluralism and tolerance more readily lie in the northern part of
Eastern Europe and were part of the European cultural and political
area during the Enlightenment as Europe turned its back on the
barbarities of the Inquisition and of religious wars, and prepared
the ground for these more modern ideas. Four decades of Communist
dictatorship ...