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Politics without a Past: The Absence of History in Postcommunist Nationalism

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I found this book to be very insightful and well documented. Having done my own research on Slovakia (and Czechoslovakia) during the 20th century, and being the son of a Slovak major general who saved Jews from deportation, fought in the Slovak National Uprising, directly served under President Edvard Benes between 1945 and 1948, and escaped communist Czechoslovakia in 1948 to continue his fight against totalitarianism, I have gained a fairly good grasp and understanding of the events that Slovakia and her people experienced in the 20th century. I have many family members still living in Slovakia with whom I regularly communicate and have visited there on numerous occasions, including during the period of communist rule. From all that I have come to understand about Slovakia's history and present-day struggles, I find that Dr. Cohen's analysis and focus is precise. Her only failure throughout her doctorial thesis is making a connection between Slovakia's long history of foreign occupation and oppression and the passive, pastoral character and nature of her people that has made her an easy victim and target over the centuries. It can be argued that this passive character is a consequence of centuries of external oppression or a manifestation of something deeper that has been at the core of the Slovak character since the 9th century.

Dr. Cohen's analysis of the events of 1938-1948 are right on target. She is thorough in addressing both sides of the arguements that have been proffered mitigating and condemning the actions of the Tiso government during the Second World War. Her conclusions regarding the reasons for revisionist history on the part of the fascists and communists since 1948 are insightful and accurate. While most of the German nation has embraced its shame for its actions during the Second World War, most of the Central and Eastern European countries, including the republics of the former Soviet Union, have done all they can to deny their shame. Like before the Second World War, within Slovakia there are three major political and philosophical forces that remain ardent enemies--democrats (capitalists and social-democrats), fascists (national socialists) and communists (Marxists, but not Stalinists). Dr. Cohen astutely considers the past and ongoing influence of these three forces, as fluid as they are, and categorically ascribes their individual roles to present-day problems. Unfortunately, her study ends in 1999 and much has developed politically, economically and philosophically in Slovakia since then, viz., a distinct and deliberate shift in political alignment from heavy-handed communist-styled central government of the former Soviet Union to U.S.-styled democracy and capitalism. This shift is as massive of a shift in political philosophy that any nation can possibly make after 50 years of totalitariam rule. The closest modern-day similarity would be the fall of the Taliban government or the Baathists in Iraq followed by adoption of democratic and capitalistic principles.

In light of this massive shift, there is no doubt there exists an ongoing struggle in Slovakia, and others like her, between remnants of former political systems and philosophies. I have often informed Slovaks that it will take at least two generations under democracy and capitalism to rid themselves of the former modus cogitandi et operandi that continues to plague them. I believe Dr. Cohen in her doctorial thesis has more than touched on the surface of this struggle. It would be of great and important benefit for anyone wishing to understand the ongoing struggle the people of Slovakia to study Dr. Cohen's book. To date very little modern history of Slovakia is written that is not revisionist--and even less is found in English. I would recommend the following reading for accurate information on Slovakia:

Jozef Lettrich, History of Modern Slovakia (1955, reissued 1985), is a standard work up to World War II. Peter Vlcko, In the Shadow of Tyranny (1973, army officer and eye-witness to events of 1939-1948). Interwar Slovakia is the subject of R.W. Seton-Watson (ed.), Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey (1931), a classic text. Slovak nationalism is covered by Peter Brock, The Slovak National Awakening (1976); Joseph A. Mikuš, Slovakia, A Political History: 1918-1950, rev. ed. (1963; originally published in French, 1955); Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (1979); and Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987 (1988).

While this book is a case study of post-communist Slovakia, it has great relevance for thinking about the Taliban and other such seemingly ideological regimes in other parts of the world. How deep really is the ideology of Muslim fundamentalism? Is it much more opportunistic than we think? Read this fascinating book to help you reflect on these and other questions.