Security Intelligence Services in New Democracies: The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania

by K. Williams, D. Deletant

Overview

The first account of the secret police in Eastern Europe and after 1989, this book uses a wide range of sources, including archives, to identify what has and has not changed since the end of communism. After explaining the structure and workings of two of the area's most feared services, Czechoslovakia's StB and Romania's Securitate, the authors details the creation of new security intelligence institutions, the development of contacts with the West, and forms of democratic control.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333713723
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/18/2000
Series:	Studies in Russia and East Europe , #14135
Edition description:	2001
Pages:	291
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

KIERAN WILLIAMS is Lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. Among his publications are The Prague Spring and its Aftermath: Czechoslovak Politics, 1968-1970 (1997), which was awarded the BASEES/Orbis prize in 1998.

DENNIS DELETANT is Professor of Romanian Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. At the end of December 1989 he returned to Bucharest as consultant to the BBC during the Romanian revolution.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations Introduction; K.Williams The StB in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989; K.Williams Czechoslovakia, 1990-92; K.Williams The Czech Republic since 1993; K.Williams Slovakia since 1993; K.Williams The Securitate Legacy in Romania; D.Deletant The Successors to the Securitate; D.Deletant Conclusion; K.Williams Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

‘This is an engagingly written and extremely topical book that sheds new light on the important relationship between political transition and the reform of security services. The authors explore the concept of security intelligence and place the discussion of post-Communist Europe within the wider context of transitions from authoritarian rule and security-sector reform. The substantive chapters on Czech, Slovak and Romanian security services are extremely well researched and shed new light on the intricate details of security reform; one cannot find this detailed information elsewhere in English-language sources. This is an important and informative book.' - Charles King, Ion Ratui Chair of Romanian Studies, Georgetown University

From the Publisher

The control of security intelligence in post-communism merits attention in part because, like minority rights or welfare reform, it's a problem that "mature" democracies don't have an answer for. But post-communism brings a host of specific challenges as well: a societal lack of trust in institutions beyond the family or other highly personalized networks; the politicization of bureaucracy; questions about the handling of files assembled by the old regime; a lack of threat assessment; and others. Williams and Deletant, both of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London, look at problems related to security intelligence in three eastern states, all of which have relations with Western institutions and which have followed distinctive paths of transition since 1989. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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