Now that communication barriers between Eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet bloc have fallen, there are valuable opportunities for personal and business exchanges. Remaining, however, is the challenge of mutual understanding, as Eastern Europeans move from subservience to the East to cooperation with the West, in essence, moving from da to yes.From Da To Yes: Understanding the East Europeans offers a description of life in Eastern European countries, reviewing their shared history and making note of their past and ongoing struggles with alcoholism, ethnic cleansing, organized crime and environmental degradation. Featuring individual chapters on each country and its inhabitants, Yale Richmond pays close attention to each country's individuality, the personal characteristics of its people, its attitude toward the West, its most esteemed values and its preferred style of communication. From Da To Yes is a complete guide to Eastern European nations today and their connections to the West.A refreshingly clear writer, without pretense. Our understanding of the Eastern Europeans is indispensable and I believe that Yale Richmond's book fits that need very well. -Max M. Kampelman Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Encountering East Europeans 1 Slavs and Other Peoples 2 Poles 3 Czechs and Slovaks 4 Hungarians 5 Romanians and Moldovans 6 Bulgarians 7 Land of the South Slavs 8 Albanians 9 Balts 10 Belarusians 11 Ukrainians Appendix A: Tracing Roots Appendix B: Recommended Readings Index
Yale Richmond, a specialist in intercultural communication, served 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with postings abroad as a cultural or information officer in Germany, Laos, Poland, Austria, and the Soviet Union. During the detente years of the 1970s, he was Director of the Office of Soviet and East European Exchanges in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. He retired in 1979 as a Deputy Assistant Director for Europe, U.S. Information Agency.
After retirement, he served three years as a Staff Consultant to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Congress), and eight years as a Senior Program Officer with the National Endowment for Democracy which gives grants to non-governmental organization around the world in support of democracy. In 1983, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Madrid review meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Mr. Richmond is a graduate of Boston College from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1943; Syracuse University, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, in 1947; and Columbia University, Master of Arts in History (East European), in 1957.
He now spends most of his time writing, and is the author of 12 books.
