Zlotys, Rubles, and Leks

Abstract

The most remarkable change between the fifth and sixth editions of this book has been the collapse of ‘The Evil Empire.’ The Berlin Wall has disappeared, East Europe has been rechristened Central Europe, and the USSR — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — is no more, replaced by the CIR — the Committee of Independent Republics. The Baltic Countries — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — have regained the independence they lost in 1939. Ukrania and Russia squabble over who owns the Black Sea fleet., and there is a continual concern over the command and control of hundreds of nuclear missiles in countries that often appear to be on the edge of disintegration.