Conclusion: Re ections from the Outside

Abstract

The international development policies of states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a growing area of study in development studies and politics and international relations (see Dauderstadt, 2002; Krichewsky, 2003; Carbone, 2004; Hanšpach, 2004; Schmidt, 2004 for the pre-accession period; Grimm & Harmer, 2005; Kuuish, 2006; Bučar et al., 2007, Szent-Ivanyi, 2011; Horký-Hlucháň & Lightfoot, 2012 for the post-).¹ Why, though, is an academic from the United Kingdom (UK) interested in the international development policies of states in Central and Eastern Europe? The first part to the answer is that the whole issue of transition from aid recipients to aid donors is fascinating. Clearly previous enlargements of the European Union (EU) had seen recipients of aid become donors, notably Spain and Portugal in 1986, but the enlargements of 2004 and 2007 saw the integration of ten former recipients of aid into the EU’s existing aid architecture. The end of communism had seen huge transfers of money towards CEE states as part of the Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies (PHARE) PHARE programme throughout the 1990s (see Arts and Dickson, 2004), yet upon accession to the EU in 2004 states were expected to become donors. The experience of this transition is in itself interesting, but once you start examining this area you realize that it provides a window to understand contemporary politics in CEE states — which is the second part of the answer to why I am studying this area.