Irreconcilable Differences?

Michael Kraus is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, Middlebury College. Allison Stanger is associate professor of political science and director of the international politics and economics program, Middlebury College.

Why did the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia occur and how did it take place without violence? With an approach that is at once imaginative, comprehensive, and effective, Kraus and Stanger juxtapose explanations advanced by several scholars with the insider views offered by leading political figures—both Czech and Slovak—who participated in the process. The resulting tour de force represents indispensable reading for all who are interested in the comparative study of nationalism and separatism.

• Chapter 1 ForewordChapter 2 Past as a PrologueChapter 3 Contending Views of Czechoslovakia's DemisePart 4 Part I: Legacies of the PastChapter 5 Inevitability, Probability, Possibility: The Legacies of the Czech-Slovak Relationship, 1918-1989, and the Disintegration of the StateChapter 6 The Possibilities for Czech-Slovak Compromise, 1989-1992Part 7 Part II: Institutional Challenges and Constitutional ControversiesChapter 8 From "Velvet Revolution" to "Velvet Split": Consociational Institutions and the Disintegration of CzechoslovakiaChapter 9 The Impact of Institutional Factors on the Breakup of the Czechoslovak FederationChapter 10 Electoral Rules and the Fate of Nations: Czechoslovakia's Last Parliamentary ElectionsChapter 11 The Price of Velvet: Constitutional Politics and the Demise of the Czechoslovak FederationPart 12 Part III: Media, Economic, and International FactorsChapter 13 Failing Democracy: Journalists, the Mass Media, and the Dissolution of CzechoslovakiaChapter 14 Explaining Czechoslovakia's Dissolution: Assesing Economic performance Before and After the BreakupChapter 15 The End of Czechslovakia: International Forces and FactorsPart 16 Part IV: The View from the Ground: Czech and Slovak PerspectivesChapter 17 A Retrospective Look at the Dissolution of CzechoslovakiaChapter 18 The Division/Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Old Sins and New Forms of SelfishnessChapter 19 A Comment on Carnogursk? and PithartChapter 20 Fragments from the Dividing of CzechoslovakiaChapter 21 Domestic and International Aspects of the Czechoslovak State's Crisis and EndChapter 22 Czechoslovakia After 1989: The Reasons for the DivisionChapter 23 Notes on the Role of Television in Czechoslovakia's DissolutionPart 24 Part V: Czechoslovakia's Dissolution in Comparative PerspectiveChapter 25 On Ethnic Conflicts and their ResolutionChapter 26 Lessons from the Breakup of CzechoslovakiaChapter 27 Appendix: Narrative Chronology of the Czech-Slovak Conflict, 1990-1992