{"333581":{"#nid":"333581","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Young Speaks at Agnes Scott College on Revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDr. Alasdair Young - Nunn School Associate Professor, Jean Monnet Chair, and Co-director of the Center for European and Transatlantic Studies - contributed to the \u201c25 Years Later: The Fall of the Iron Curtain\u201d Conference at Agnes Scott College on October 3\u003Csup\u003Erd\u003C\/sup\u003E and 4\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E.\u0026nbsp; Informed by his experience of interning at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest in the summer of 1990 (two weeks after the non-communist government came to power), he spoke on a panel about \u2018The People\u2019s Revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe.\u2019\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;He stressed four aspects of the 1989 revolutions that were particularly striking:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThey were surprising; few predicted that communism would end, let alone so swiftly.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThey were sudden; less than eight months elapsed between the legalization of Solidarity in Poland and the ouster of Ceausescu in Romania;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThey were remarkably peaceful; only the Ceausescu regime resorted to extensive force to resist change.\u0026nbsp; This was in stark contrast to the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s response to the Tiananmen Square demonstrations earlier in the year.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThey have been stunningly complete \u2013 all are more-or-less functioning democracies -- although they are still not necessarily secure, with the recent adoption of illiberal constitutional changes in Hungary being of particular concern.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conference was hosted by Agnes Scott College and the Hungarian Club of Georgia, sponsored by the Hungarian Initiatives Foundation and supported by the Honorary Consul Generals of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDr. Alasdair Young contributed to the \u201c25 Years Later: The Fall of the Iron Curtain\u201d Conference at Agnes Scott College...\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dr. Alasdair Young contributed to the \u201c25 Years Later: The Fall of the Iron Curtain\u201d Conference at Agnes Scott College..."}],"uid":"28086","created_gmt":"2014-10-13 15:43:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:15","author":"Matt Josey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"333571":{"id":"333571","type":"image","title":"Hungary 1990","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895044","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:44","alt":"Hungary 1990","file":{"fid":"200426","name":"10708756_720399838054166_7499067034141337540_o.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10708756_720399838054166_7499067034141337540_o_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10708756_720399838054166_7499067034141337540_o_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":262134,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/10708756_720399838054166_7499067034141337540_o_0.jpg?itok=LJxDS0Z3"}}},"media_ids":["333571"],"groups":[{"id":"1285","name":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"4039","name":"democracy"},{"id":"8360","name":"Hungary"},{"id":"106291","name":"iron curtain"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EVince Pedicino\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:vince@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Evince@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["vince@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}