Autonomy and The New World Order

Fülszöveg

THE AUTHOR
The author has experienced a major conflict of cultures as he grew up in Communist Hungary, Hungary being part of Western Christian civilization, while Communism was the ruling ideology in Orthodox Russia. He had an opportunity to re-live and analyze this conflict scientifically when he did his research for his Doctoral Dissertation and developed his thesis about the importance of political culture. The author bases the following analysis and recommendation on his personal experience and his studies as a political scientist. Hungary has traditionally been a historic crossroads between East and West, North and South, and between North-West and South East and at the edge of conflicting religious and political cultures, including Muslim and Christian, and more recently, Western and Orthodox Christian religious cultures. Hungary has alsó been at the dividing line between democracies and orientál despotism, two very different, in fact, opposed political cultures. This clash... Tovább

Fülszöveg

THE AUTHOR
The author has experienced a major conflict of cultures as he grew up in Communist Hungary, Hungary being part of Western Christian civilization, while Communism was the ruling ideology in Orthodox Russia. He had an opportunity to re-live and analyze this conflict scientifically when he did his research for his Doctoral Dissertation and developed his thesis about the importance of political culture. The author bases the following analysis and recommendation on his personal experience and his studies as a political scientist. Hungary has traditionally been a historic crossroads between East and West, North and South, and between North-West and South East and at the edge of conflicting religious and political cultures, including Muslim and Christian, and more recently, Western and Orthodox Christian religious cultures. Hungary has alsó been at the dividing line between democracies and orientál despotism, two very different, in fact, opposed political cultures. This clash of cultures effected hím personally when he was imprisoned for his Christian views under the atheistic Communist regime from 1952 to 1955. After the Revolution of 1956 he escaped Hungary and took refuge in the USA as a freedom fighter. In the US he obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University, and was a college professor until his retirement a few years ago. He wrote his dissertation on the cultural differences and patteras in the communist countries of Central Europe, with a focus on the Hungárián Revolution of 1956. In his priváté life he has been active in attempting to improve the humán rights
situation of his oppressed compatriots in the countries surrounding Hungary, and participated in several meetings of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) representative. Therefore he is quite familiar with both the issues involved and possible remedies.
It should alsó be noted the issues involved are quite emotional on both sides. Although the author has considerable personal and professional interest in the region, the following essay will examine the causes and possible cures for this illness in as dispassioned and professional manner as it is possible under the circumstances and will attempt to be as objective a political scientist, emphasizing scientist should be. The reason that Hungary and problems affecting Hungarians is discussed more in the book than any other minority group is due to the facts that on the one hand, the author is more familiar with this situation, and on the other, the case of the Hungárián minorities could (and should) serve as a textbook exampie of how minorities are created in the political process, how treaties aimed to protect minorities have failed to do so, how peaceful and productive minorities are persecuted just for being different, how ineffective the international community is in protecting minorities, how the current system invites use of violence and terror in order to get attention, and finally, how important it is to put the minority issue and effective minority protections on the agenda of international forums and the United Nations. Vissza