Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

The fall of the Berlin Wall two decades ago was expected by people on both sides of that former divide to usher in a new era and a complete break with the past. In many ways that has happened as Central and Eastern Europe joined the institutions of the West, NATO and the European Union.  However, in terms of popular attitudes, change has not been linear and nostalgia for the days of communism as well as disillusionment with the challenges of democracy persist.

From August 27, 2009-September 24, 2009, the Pew Global Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project conducted a 14-nation survey on public opinion two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The survey found that while the majority of people in most former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries favor the a democratic system of governance, with emphasis on multiparty systems and a free market economy, there are some countries in which the support for democracy has diminished. 

In countries such as Russia, Ukraine, democratic values are resisted, and the presence of singular leader of government is preferred.  Only in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and former East Germany do most of the people surveyed value democracy as the best form of government.  

Today, our speakers will analyze the survey’s trends and what they mean for United States, Europe and Russia.