The following references are provided to support students working toward an understanding of comparative politics and, in particular, the politics of that region which was, through most of the 20th century, part of the "socialist system."  Students will find it very productive to delve deeply into these sources.  To grasp the dynamic reality for these political systems and to enable yourself to make accurate predictions about the future, requires the kind of information that you will only find in the internet.  Good hunting...

Basic Background

• CNN Politics
• Maps from the Perry-Castaqeda Library Map Collection -- University of Texis at Austin
• Maps, Maps, Maps -- all countries
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- creates studies and databases for European countries, many in Western Europe and an increasing number in Eastern Europe
• United Nations Research Guide -- overview and guide to available UN materials
• National Geographic -- source for general background information on selected countries
• Foreign policy issues -- sight of Foreign Affairs journal
• Travel & Tourism sources: Fodors, Travelweb, Travelsource
• Central Europe information
• Rand Corporation
• European City Guides

Current Events

• Daily Newsline -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague
• Seek out the information from the National Technical Information Service and / or the Commerce Department by working through the US federal government site: fedworld.gov. Also available through this site are the home pages of most of the countries in East and Central Europe.
• St. Petersburg Times
• Moscow Times
• Russia Today

Politics

• Elections: Election reports -- very useful data on elections in all countries
• Analysis: 1996 Human Rights Reports on so-called "...stans"
• Foreign Affairs: analysis of American foreign policy approaches to issues

Defense

• Center for Defense Information -- source for Russian military info and Russian-American relations

Women & Related Issues

• Russian Feminism

Economics and Commerce

• ABN AMRO Bank -- excellent source for financial information
• Comparative Law
• International Labor Organization -- provides information and data on labor standards and human rights as well as other information resources
• Convert ANY Currency From/To -- currency converter and "directional forecast"
• Central and Eastern European Business Directory

Other Internet Resources

• REESWeb -- maintained by the Center for Russian and East European Students at the University of Pittsburgh
• OmriNet -- publishes lists of internet sites by topic; excellent information up to 1998
• Carnegie Moscow Center
• Kennan Institute -- Russian and Ukrainian Studies
• Regional Environmental Center for Central & Eastern Europe -- environmental issues and data from the region
• UN Research Guide -- overview of various types of documents and publications issued by the UN
• Columbia International Affairs Online -- provides access to the complete texts of scholarly documents from the world's leading international relations research centers
• REECA -- University of Wisconsin-Madison Library site for East Europe

Language Resources

• Russnet -- excellent resource for the Russian language
• EE Phrases -- contains several phrases in many languages and pronounces the words for you

City Information

• Budapest
• Krakow
• Szczecin

Country Sites:

Russia

• Russian history -- multimedia history lectures
• Russia Today
• Embassy of the Russian Federation
• St. Petersburg Times
• The Russia Channel
• Moscow Times
• EastView Online -- Russian newspaper database
• Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies -- University of Birmingham
• Russia Online
• List of Russian Web Servers
• Vestnik -- Russian-language biweekly magazine
• Pir Center -- Russian Center for Policy Studies
• Russian Political Parties
• Friends & Partners -- US-Russian relations
• US Department of State -- Russian background notes

Hungary

• Tourism in Hungary
• Central European University
• Overview of Hungary
• Virtual Hungary
• Prime Minister's Office
• Media Bulletin
• Hungarian Central Statistical Office

Poland

• Info Poland -- SUNY Buffalo
• Zycie Warszawy -- Polish-language daily newspaper
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lonely Planet -- tourist information with many interactive features
• Polish Market -- business portal
• Polish Embassy

Czech Republic

• Czech News Agency
• Official Czech Republic website
• Czech Statistical Office
• Czech National Bank
• Election Information

Belarus

• President's Office

Latvia

• Statistical Analysis

Croatia

• Election Information

Kosovo

• Kosovo Online
• The Saga of Kosovo
• Serbian Government
• Serbain Network

Potential Links for Collaborative Projects of Peer Communication

• Global Distance Learning Channel

Other Sites NOT Area Related but of use to Political Science Students

• Officials and Candidates -- all state and federal offcials and candidates
• Biographical Dictionary -- online biographies searchable by name, date, or keyword
• Biographies -- A&E's Biography website with searchable index