The revolutions of 1989: Socialism, capitalism, and democracy

Abstract

Many journalists and scholars will look for the correlation of that chain of spectacular transformations that changed, as if at one blow, the fates of tens of millions of individuals and the hitherto firm bipolar picture of the modern world ... Today, many people are talking and writing about the role of the intellectuals, students, and the theatre, or the influence of the Soviets' perestroika, and economic difficulties. They're right. I myself as a playwright would also add the influence of humour and honesty, and perhaps even something beyond us, something maybe even unearthly.

Vaclav Havel, “Preface” to Gwyn Prins (editor),Spring in Winter: The 1989 Revolutions.