Catherine Samary, a professor of the „Dauphine" university in Paris attempts to analyse and interpret the East European systems on the basis of formation theory and through comparing them with contemporary capitalism. The statement should be underlined that the East European economic reforms should be viewed as „a means in the hands of the national bureaucracy to save its own power – that is to prevent a genuine social democratisation". This strata wants to preserve its own privileged position by channelling the reforms to the level of the market and avoid the other alternative of the reform: „the involvement of the masses of people in the control of the economy and society".

After the break down of Stalinist structures in Eastern Europe, the left wing may get under the ruins. The revival of conservative traditions, the absolutisation of the messianism of small nations, private property, reprivatization etc. obstructs political democratisation developing into economic democracy. The world economic conditions are unfavourable. Perestroika's contradictory effects. There are time bombs ticking under the new systems: unemployment, poverty, nationalistic conflicts etc.

„Prologue" refers to the ethnic-nationality composition which is much more varied and mixed in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. It is still not enough stressed precursor of a problem of Eastern Europe which is a historical category. Together with the other well known specific features the dangerous resurfacing of the syndrome that „only we belong to Europe" can be traced back to that everywhere.