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ESTONIA ARMY, NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY HANDBOOK (World Business, Investment and Government Library) ... Read more

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In 1998, Estonia became the first of the former Soviet republics to enter membership negotiations with the European Union. Since then it has been hailed as the 'model pupil' amongst the current applicants. This study traces the remarkable reforms that have propelled Estonia from the USSR to the threshold of the EU in less than a decade. The work also explores the tensions inherent in the concept of a postcommunist 'return to Europe'. Since 1991, membership of western transnational organizations has been consistently portrayed as the best guarantee of Estonia's independence. Yet the membership criteria imposed by these organizations have frequently conflicted with the nationalist priority of restoring a sovereign Estonian nation-state. At the same time, Estonia's geopolitically-sensitive location poses a dilemma for the West, thereby ensuring that the country will remain the 'litmus test' - not just of Russia's intentions towards Europe, but of the 'New Europe' as a whole. ... Read more

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This work is a case study of parties and democracy in Estonia set within the broader comparative framework of developments in the post-Soviet republics in particular, and post-communist Central and Eastern Europe in general. ... Read more

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At the turn of the 21st century the political significance of the agrarian population and especially small farmers, was crucial in northern and eastern Europe. They were one of the most important population groups in terms of newly emerging parliamentarism, and also the group on which the new nation states were based. The farmers historical heritage accounts for the predominant nostalgic desire to reinstate family farming in post-socialist Eastern Europe. Created as a result of a research project, this work presents the results of research carried out on the privatization of Kanepi Kolkhoz in the southeastern part of Estonia. A series of events that devastated people's conditions of existence. The book puts forward the argument that it is a challenging subject of interpretation on the level of social theory and addresses questions such as: What was "real socialism" really like from the viewpoint of agriculture? How did the system finally come to a dead end; and How was it forced to give way to another system in a situation of economic collapse? ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Really interesting account of Estonias return to independance
I picked up this book to read out of a vague interest in the Baltic States and ended up reading it cover to cover in a couple of evenings. The author does a great job of covering Estonian history and culture in the early part of the book, then the impact of Soviet rule (which he calls colonial...a very accurate depiction of the soviet empire), then covers the steps by which Estonia regained independance. Along the way, he interjects personal experiences into the narrative, something which makes the book even more interesting. Well worth the read if you want to know more about a little-known country.

The only flaw from my perspective was that as the book was written and published back in 1993, it misses the last 14 years and one has to go elsewhere for this. More a case of when the book was written than anything else of course......

Also, as an aside, if you're interested in books on Estonia, or set in Estonia, try Sofi Oksanen's Purge. Brilliant novel, won the 2008 Finlandia Prize, #1 on the best seller list in Finland when it was first published. A real eye-opener on life in Soviet-occupied Estonia.

Ethnolinguistic survival....
I am tracing the roots of my Estonian heritage for trip to my grandparents birth place this summer and found this excellent preparation for understanding my heritage.
Rein's writing is accessable readable and informative.This book is a suspenceful and heartfelt pageturner, as well as being well researched. Rein chose to write 'Estonia' in a personal style rather than an academic one and succeeded beautifully.
I don't think I could have read it to the end if I didn't know that the outcome was a good one.
I chose todeduct one star only because I found the last few chapters to be bogged down with more detail than I was able to digest, but all in all I found this book to be an inspirational narrative of the survival of a small ethnolinguistic community who struggled towards and ultimately won Independence against insurmaountableodds!

Ideal for students of East European Studies
"Return to Independence" is perhaps one of the most unique books on the topic of Estonia.It is one part historical account, one part autobiography, and one part personal polemic.Taagepera mixes concise, academic prose with a dose of literary caprice when relating personal anecdotes and ingenious metaphors, resulting in a book about much more than the Estonian national identity, or the Estonian struggle for freedom from the USSR.Rather, this book is about of the indomitability of the human spirit, and the fuel to that spirit that we know as freedom.

Comprehencive Book
Very good book, interesting history review of the past, but a little bit PROPAGANDA sounding end, anyway, the excellent source for those who is interested in Estonian history. ... Read more

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This book recounts important moments in the life of an Estonian. It also includes a brief history of the Estonian independence struggle. ... Read more

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This series analyzes the status-quo of the social protection systems in the 13 candidate countries. Amongst other topics, it covers the economical, social, and demographic conditions regarding the social protection and its development within the last five to ten years. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2006. The length of the article is 3339 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: European Union enlargement.(Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join)
Author: Kristin Archick
Publication: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: April 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Completely updated and revised for this new edition, our unique electronic book on two CD-ROMs has an amazing collection of the finest federal documents and resources about Estonia, providing encyclopedic coverage of all aspects of the country. This disc set provides a truly fantastic reference source, with over one hundred thousand pages reproduced in Adobe Acrobat format! There is complete coverage of newsworthy material about Estonia, including doing business, USAID, NATO accession, e-PINE program, agriculture, energy, commercial guides, Northern Europe Initiative, Navy program, and more.This incredible and comprehensive series on the countries of the world contains material from the State Department, Department of Defense, White House, and cabinet agencies including Agriculture, Energy, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.There is complete information about geography, people, government, the economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.In addition to the nation-specific material, as a bonus we have included reports about every country on the globe, with 271 nations, dependent areas, and other entities identified by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA World Factbook is considered an invaluable "world encyclopedia" reference book.This incredible two CD-ROM set is packed with over 100,000 pages reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows and Macintosh systems. The Acrobat cataloging technology adds enormous value and uncommon functionality to this impressive collection of government documents and material.Our news and educational discs are privately compiled collections of official public domain U.S. government files and documents - they are not produced by the federal government. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work, utilizing the benefits of the Adobe Acrobat format to uniformly present thousands of pages that can be rapidly reviewed, ... Read more

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Completely updated and revised for this new edition, our unique electronic book on two CD-ROMs has an amazing collection of the finest federal documents and resources about Estonia, providing encyclopedic coverage of all aspects of the country. This disc set provides a truly fantastic reference source, with over one hundred thousand pages reproduced in Adobe Acrobat format! There is complete coverage of newsworthy material about Estonia, including doing business, USAID, NATO accession, e-PINE program, agriculture, energy, commercial guides, Northern Europe Initiative, Navy program, and more.This incredible and comprehensive series on the countries of the world contains material from the State Department, Department of Defense, White House, and cabinet agencies including Agriculture, Energy, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.There is complete information about geography, people, government, the economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.In addition to the nation-specific material, as a bonus we have included reports about every country on the globe, with 271 nations, dependent areas, and other entities identified by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA World Factbook is considered an invaluable "world encyclopedia" reference book.This incredible two CD-ROM set is packed with over 100,000 pages reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows and Macintosh systems. The Acrobat cataloging technology adds enormous value and uncommon functionality to this impressive collection of government documents and material.Our news and educational discs are privately compiled collections of official public domain U.S. government files and documents - they are not produced by the federal government. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work, utilizing the benefits of the Adobe Acrobat format to uniformly present thousands of pages that can be rapidly reviewed, ... Read more