When East and West Germany re-united, the world was amazed — but this great moment should have been foreseen. East Germany, the GDR, was not transformed by a counterrevolution from the outside; the leadership was always capitalist at heart. The author shows how they were undermining the socialist foundations even in the 1950s, as soon as Stalin died. Gerhard Schnehen leads us through the historic events that led to the formation of the German Democratic Republic, GDR. He documents what others have left out of the story, explaining the underlying causes why the supposedly 'Communist' part of Germany collapsed in 1989, to be completely integrated into the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany. The reunited and imperialist Germany today is the dominant force in the European Union and the main ally of US imperialism, globalism and neoliberalism. With the rise to power of the Khrushchev clique, the GDR also changed colors. Guided by Khrushchev and his group, they introduced economic reforms leading to the restoration of a type of capitalism in the country where the profit principle was reinstated as the main regulator of social production. This in turn caused numerous and chronic crises in the country which in the West were then happily attributed to socialism or communism as a whole, inviting attacks on 'a system that cannot work.' However, such commentators completely ignore and do not want to discuss the fact that GDR’s 'socialism' was brought down very early, in the early sixties, by leading officials of the ruling party themselves, who introduced a whole series of capitalist 'reforms' in order to 'modernize socialism' and to make it 'more effective' (as the Ulbricht reformers put it). These so-called reforms are analyzed here at length, illustrating how they did away with socialist principles and restored capitalist principles into the economy in a way that made the country prone to the chronic crises typical of capitalism. This then led to a substantial part of the dissatisfied population turning away from socialism, the 'socialist' state and the SED ruling party, and looking toward West Germany for a better lifestyle. In late 1989, the GDR imploded and within months it was swallowed up by West German banks and corporations.

This open access book presents a topical, comprehensive and differentiated analysis of Germany’s public administration and reforms. It provides an overview on key elements of German public administration at the federal, Länder and local levels of government as well as on current reform activities of the public sector. It examines the key institutional features of German public administration; the changing relationships between public administration, society and the private sector; the administrative reforms at different levels of the federal system and numerous sectors; and new challenges and modernization approaches like digitalization, Open Government and Better Regulation. Each chapter offers a combination of descriptive information and problem-oriented analysis, presenting key topical issues in Germany which are relevant to an international readership.

'Turizm' examines the history of tourism in Russia and eastern Europe from the tsarist period to the age of Soviet and east European mass tourism in the 1960s and 1970s.

Placing Stalinism in its international context, The Stalinist Era explains the origins and consequences of Soviet state intervention and violence.

The provocative political thinker asks if it will be with a bang or a whimper In How Will Capitalism End? the acclaimed analyst of contemporary politics and economics Wolfgang Streeck argues that capitalism is now in a critical condition. Growth is giving way to secular stagnation; inequality is leading to instability; and confidence in the capitalist money economy has all but evaporated. Capitalism’s shotgun marriage with democracy since 1945 is breaking up as the regulatory institutions restraining its advance have collapsed, and after the final victory of capitalism over its enemies no political agency capable of rebuilding them is in sight. The capitalist system is stricken with at least five worsening disorders for which no cure is at hand: declining growth, oligarchy, starvation of the public sphere, corruption and international anarchy. In this arresting book Wolfgang Streeck asks whether we are witnessing a long and painful period of cumulative decay: of intensifying frictions, of fragility and uncertainty, and of a steady succession of “normal accidents.”

The contributors to this volume consider the economic history of East Germany within its broader political, cultural and social contexts.

An economic and military superpower with 20 percent of the world’s population, China has the wherewithal to transform the international system. Xi Jinping’s bold calls for China to “lead in the reform of the global governance system” suggest that he has just such an ambition. But how does he plan to realize it? And what does it mean for the rest of the world? In this compelling book, Elizabeth Economy reveals China’s ambitious new strategy to reclaim the country’s past glory and reshape the geostrategic landscape in dramatic new ways. Xi’s vision is one of Chinese centrality on the global stage, in which the mainland has realized its sovereignty claims over Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, deepened its global political, economic, and security reach through its grand-scale Belt and Road Initiative, and used its leadership in the United Nations and other institutions to align international norms and values, particularly around human rights, with those of China. It is a world radically different from that of today. The international community needs to understand and respond to the great risks, as well as the potential opportunities, of a world rebuilt by China.