Sustaining the Transition: The Social Saftey Net in Postcommunist Europe [Paperback]

Michael Mandelbaum (Editor), Ethan B. Kapstein (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

In the great transition of the postcommunist countries from central planning to market economies, the role of the social safety net is becoming increasingly controversial. The transition increased the demand for social support, but the level of benefits set in the communist era is already high and threatens to stifle future economic growth. This book assesses the past, present, and future of social policies in the 27 post-communist countries. Walter Conner describes social policy during the communist period and its legacy. Mark Kramer traces the evolution of social policy in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Anders Aslund examines the role of social policy in Russia's economic transition. Scott Thomas summarizes the contributions of the West. Ethan Kapstein is Stassen Professor of International Peace at the Humphrey Institute and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Michael Mandelbaum is director of the Project on East-West Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations and Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Previously announced as Social Policy in Transition Economies

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Council on Foreign Relations Press; Previously announced as Social Policy in Transition Economies

About the Author

Ethan Kapstein is Stassen Professor of International Peace at the Humphrey Institute and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Michael Mandelbaum is director of the Project on East-West Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations and Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations Press (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876092261
• ISBN-13: 978-0876092262
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,357,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and is the director of the American Foreign Policy Program there. He has also held teaching posts at Harvard and Columbia Universities, and at the United States Naval Academy.

His most recent book, written with co-author Thomas L. Friedman, is THAT USED TO BE US: HOW AMERICA FELL BEHIND IN THE WORLD IT INVENTED AND HOW WE CAN COME BACK. Its publication date is September 5, 2011.

He serves on the board of advisors of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington-based organization sponsoring research and public discussion on American policy toward the Middle East.

A graduate of Yale College, Professor Mandelbaum earned his Master's degree at King's College, Cambridge University and his doctorate at Harvard University.

Professor Mandelbaum is the author or co-author of numerous articles and of 13 books: That Used To Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back (2011) with co-author Thomas L. Friedman; The Frugal Superpower: America's Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era (2010); Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government (2007); The Case For Goliath: How America Acts As The World's Government in the Twenty-first Century (2006); The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football and Basketball and What They See When They Do (2004); The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century (2002); The Dawn of Peace in Europe (1996); The Fate of Nations: The Search for National Security in the 19th and 20th Centuries (1988); The Global Rivals, (co-author, 1988); Reagan and Gorbachev (co-author, 1987); The Nuclear Future (1983); The Nuclear Revolution: International Politics Before and After Hiroshima (1981); and The Nuclear Question: The United States and Nuclear Weapons, 1946-1976 (1979). He is also the editor of twelve books.