In the summer of 1996 President Boris Yeltsin ordered a new Russian national ideology. Those who undertook the implementation of the ukaz looked back to philosophers long forgotten and to characteristics of the Russian people one could have thought to have been eliminated from society.

The attempt to restructureSoviet society in the late 1980s, known as perestroika, included a good deal of left-wing elements. The paper explores the international context of the degeneration of this process, which have led to one of teh major social disasters of our century.

In recent years we have experienced various extremes in the assesment of the 1919 Soviet Republic of Hungary. a leading Hungarian historian, member of the Academy of Sciences, asks whether it is possible to provide a balanced picture about that very important period of Hungarian history.

New documents about the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, which do not only tell us about the tragic end of two outstanding socialist politicians but also about the role of those in history who "only" implement the commands of others.

The accomplishment of a united Europe looks closer and closer. Behind the common European politics, however, we can discover lobby activities unnoticed by most of us. During these activities greal corporations gradually shape an economic and political environment suitable to their purposes. The other side, i.e. small entrepreneurs, trade unions and environmentalists must face a good deal of organisational and financial obstacles when they want to influence European Policy. This must be considered when we analyse the integration process of former socilist countries.