ABSTRACT
The year 1989 was dubbed annus mirabilis because of the suddenness and the surprising ease of the collapse of dictatorships and the international order inherited from the Cold War. Václav Havel, who started the year in prison and ended it in the Prague Castle as president, symbolized the moment. The unpredictability of history provides the theme of his beautiful opening essay in this volume, which hints ironically at journalists and political scientists who thought they understood the “system” and the “laws of history”. This indeed remains one of the important lessons for students of international affairs: experts and social scientists failed to anticipate the possibility of a “1989” although they had no shortage of knowing arguments after to demonstrate why collapse had been inevitable …
