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The essays in this book are a study on how globalization, as one of the main driving forces in economics, international relations, and cultures, has affected politics in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. With the contributors paying particular attention to the changing nature of the interactions between various types of domestic institutions and international structures, this book attempts to interpret the process of economic, political, and cultural change in post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe as it transformed from a relatively isolated corner of the world into a globally interconnected community with a European identity, based on democratic values and liberal markets. While Central and Eastern Europe entered and engaged so clearly, deeply, and rapidly in the multiple channels of globalization, there is a lacunae of reflections on this notable change, and only a few, often very specialized scholarly texts provide an account of how this region fared during this profound and multidimensional transformation. The analyses in this volume bridge this gap in a methodologically novel manner by combining the time-tested area-studies focus of various case-study countries and policies with the cross-disciplinary interpretations of the new theories of globalization.

The authors of this chapter focus on the development of comparative education in 10 countries of Eastern and Central Europe. A historical approach is applied to the study of the main characteristics of comparative education. The first part of the chapter is devoted to the origin of comparative education studies in this region from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries till the end of the nineteenth century. The second part of the chapter examines the process of establishment of comparative education as a science and the appearance of the first lecture courses on comparative education in some countries of this region from the beginning of the twentieth century till the end of World War II. The third part presents the state of comparative education during the years of socialism – from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The fourth part surveys the modern development of comparative education in Eastern and Central Europe from the beginning of democratic changes in 1989 to the present day. While presenting comparative education in each historical period, the authors first show the most prominent comparativists, then emphasize on comparative education as a university discipline, and finally synthesize the main characteristics of the development of comparative education during the period of view. The chapter concludes with some generalizations on the four periods.

The unequal distribution of economic activities, transposed in economic, social and territorial disparities is the general characteristic of the European economy. Gaps increased in the context of European Union (EU) enlargement towards Eastern and Central Europe and of the economic crisis, thus bringing new differentiations among member states’ economies. The main aim of the chapter is to emphasise the centre-periphery differentiations in the European economy, by using a composite index of peripherality, in order to better understand the determinants of growth and convergence in Central and Eastern European countries and to reach normative conclusions for increasing Cohesion Policy (CP) effectiveness. The first part of the chapter provides a short overview of the main theories and models of the peripherality analysis and the relationships between the centre and the periphery, in order to find out how this analysis relates to the research in the field. The second part provides a comparative analysis of the evolution of European economies during 2003–2014, in order to find out whether the EU enlargement process stabilised the EU core-periphery pattern or, on the contrary, the process of core-periphery structural convergence occurred. The third part includes the suggested model of analysis (methodology, data, and main results) from a multidisciplinary perspective, underlining the centre-periphery differentiations on the two axes, North–South and West–East. The results have been interpreted in conclusions, with a focus on their relevance for the European CP challenges.

The international women's movement has always focused on discrimination against women, but only in the past few decades have activists been focusing on violence against women, and within this framework, domestic violence. Global feminist activism found common ground in protecting women from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. This framework traveled to Eastern Europe with the advent of regime changes there. In post-communist Europe, it took only a decade and a half for the Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, and Slovene governments to react to domestic and global pressures and establish new definitions and policies regarding domestic violence. However, the feminist NGOs’ definitions and policy recommendations met with limited success. Feminist-inspired norms, such as specific domestic violence courts and distancing ordinances, diffused to a mediocre level of half-hearted official responses in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This middle-of-the-road approach attempted to de-gender and thus to de-politicize feminists’ fundamental gender-sensitive claims. A norm diffusion to reach the middle ground took place through a complex set of interactions that involved various types of political actors ranging from international governmental organizations, such as the UN and the EU, governments, international and local NGOs. Analyzing the process of these multiple-level and manifold interactions sheds light on the partially deterritorialized nature of globalization. The development of norms and their difffnousion regarding domestic violence policy also inform us about how democratic processes, efforts to achieve gender equality, and the global context interact in CEE.

This chapter prepares expatriates and businesses to live and work in Central Europe. It draws on intercultural relations, international relations, Central and Eastern European studies, interviews with people who are from or living in the region and the American author's experiences as an international student and expat in Kraków, Poland. It begins by introducing the concept of culture and cautioning that Central European culture is not monolithic but contains variety and layers. Second, it explains that the boundaries of Central Europe are hard to define and warns that the labels Central and Eastern European may carry significant meaning for locals. Third, it argues that history is essential to understanding contemporary life in the region and outlines major trends and patterns that remain relevant. It also suggests ways that outsiders can make sense of the relationship between the past and present, with advice on how to talk to locals and a list of questions they can use to integrate and advance their learning. Fourth, it uses Hofstede Insights' (n.d.) model to explore three key dimensions of Central European culture, including indulgence, power distance and uncertainty avoidance. It also presents additional cultural tips from locals and expats for how outsiders can adapt when they move to the region. It concludes by noting that although expats and businesses may find certain elements of Central European culture challenging, they will also likely find their time here moving and memorable.

This paper analyses expansion strategies of international hotel operators in Eastern Central Europe (ECE) in relation to the changes in tourism supply and demand in ECE. Potential market sectors for the ECE region are explored, with the most promising for Eastern Central Europe being an emphasis on green or nature tourism, cultural tourism, the tourist business market and, finally the rejuvenation of the traditional spas and medicinal tourism of the region. Two groups of International hotel companies are identified. The majority group who are pursuing a follow-the-customer approach for the international business client in Prague, Budapest or Warsaw, and the smaller group who have expressed interest in supplying the budget and mid markets in secondary and tertiary locations.

This chapter investigates the awareness and level of implementation of the sustainability marketing concept in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in selected Western European and Central-Eastern European countries. This study will focus primarily on comparing the Western and Central-Eastern European countries combined in respective country groups. The data underlying this evaluation were gathered as part of an international research project by surveying SME managers in six European countries. The chapter will assess whether the main hypothesis of the research project – that there is a significant positive correlation between awareness and level of implementation of the sustainability marketing concept and a country’s level of socio-economic development – is accurate. The main hypothesis will be verified based on individual sub-hypotheses. The findings from this verification process will clearly reveal that the main hypothesis is applicable. The following chapter is organized as follows. First, managers’ attitudes towards sustainability marketing are described. Second, managers’ knowledge on the concept of sustainability marketing is presented. The final part focuses on the implementation of sustainability marketing concept and the significance of sustainability marketing for corporate strategy over time.

In this chapter, we attempt to establish global leadership broadly and intercultural competence specifically as constructs of leadership that are essential in the global context and accessible and applicable within the Eastern and Central European context. We examine several international studies of global leadership and cultural differences and highlight the patterns of culturally bounded values and behaviours that can be found in Eastern and Central Europe. We also explore the dimension of intercultural competence, its development, and share two case studies where intercultural competence was either enacted or needed in an Eastern or Central European context. Finally, we share different frames that can and/or have been employed to examine glonal leadership in Eastern or Central Europe. By looking at the cultural differences that have been uncovered in the region and the concept of intercultural competence as foundational to success, we can see that leaders aspiring to global leadership work in this region can find the dimensions of global leadership that will support their goals. The development of intercultural competence specifically and global leadership acumen broadly can be a topic for a different chapter in a different volume.

Over the last few years, Central and East European economies have become more integrated with the West European economy. In general, these economies have become more market-oriented and restrictions on foreign investment have been relaxed. An important step in this development was the admission of eight East European countries to the European Union (EU) in 2004. As the economic ties between Western, Central and Eastern Europe strengthen, one would naturally expect the financial markets to follow suit and become more integrated as well. A good example is the historical case of the Italian and German government bond markets: Before 1999 these two markets differed markedly in terms of credit quality and price volatility, but since the creation of the Euro zone in 1999 they have become highly similar.