Dancing on the mine-field

In this paper I will deal with some aspects of the origins of the peacefulness of democratic regime change in Eastern and Central Europe. In the first part, I will focus on the impact of the Polish Round Table negotiations on the strategic interactions among social and political actors in the other countries of the region. I will argue that the specific events of the negotiated regime change in Poland were "signals" to the political actors in the region that peaceful political change was possible...