Underwriting democracy : encouraging free enterprise and democratic reform among the Soviets and in Eastern Europe / George Soros.

Pt. 1. The revolution of 1989 -- 1. Cracking the communist structure -- 2. The collapse of the Soviet system -- 3. Europe as an open system -- 4. America at the crossroads -- Pt. 2. The unfolding crisis -- 5. The Shatalin plan -- 6. The outlook for Eastern Europe -- 7. The foundation network -- 8. A personal account -- Pt. 3. A theoretical framework -- 9. Philosophical foundations -- 10. A reflexive theory of history -- 11. Open and closed societies -- 12. The boom-bust pattern.

"George Soros has done more to build democracies than any other private citizen in the world. In this book, he describes his experiences helping to bring about positive change in Eastern Europe - experiences that are especially relevant now that our country has begun to intervene (though in an entirely different way than Soros recommends) to create functioning democracies. Throughout the 1980s Soros worked to identify and fund the growing political movements that caused the downfall of Eastern Europe's Communist governments. Soros's unprecedented, and brilliant, financial and logistical support helped to bring down the communist regimes in peaceful revolutions across the continent." "In Underwriting Democracy, Soros writes about this early foray into his eventually widely-lauded Open Society initiatives. There are thrilling stories about facing down - and getting past - the Communist party powers in order to change these nations from the inside-out."--BOOK JACKET.

Hardbound edition originally published: London? : G. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, c1990.

Rev. and expanded edition of: Opening the Soviet system. 1990.

Includes index.