EASTERN EUROPE

Political transformations in Central and Eastern Europe are relevant not only to institutional change but also to the transfiguration of a fragmented and degraded political self and group. In their search for democratization, Eastern Europeans are desperately seeking a new morally and psychologically empowered identity. The process of creating a new identity entails complex systems of group defenses (splitting, scapegoating, identification with the aggressor), which are already being expressed in the realm of politics (e.g., violation of minority rights, anti‐Semitism, ethnic violence, etc.). Short of celebrating the establishment of democracy in Eastern Europe, methodological and theoretical inquiry into Eastern European transformation should focus on the psychocultural parameters that have an impact on the process of identity formation and warn policymakers against serious political implications that this process is likely to have not only for Eastern but also for Western Europe. In lieu of these complex processes, the authors argue that traditional concepts of security become outdated against the rising manifestations of conflict and violence in Central and Eastern Europe. They therefore propose an expanded conception of security that encompasses a dimension pertinent to the psychocultural origins (e.g., identity crisis) of security threats (e.g., ethnic violence, extremism, migration).