ABSTRACT
As political and economic forces are driving the former communist states of Eastern Europe into the web of the European Union, several questions arise as to the cultural challenges that might ensue. Do East and West have different cultural sensibilities that will act as a roadblock to further integration? More particularly, do the Eastern applicant states have political cultures that encourage people to think about the relationship of religion to the individual, the relationship of nation to the state, or the relationship between minorities (ethnic, religious, racial or those based on sexual orientation) in ways incompatible with the political cultures of EU member states? More generally, have the separate paths of west and east over the course of history forged a cultural divide, foreshadowing extraordinary difficulties in political and economic cooperation in the future?
