Part 1 Strengths and weaknesses of communist states today: communism's strength - democracy's weakness, Ferene Feher; sources of strength and stress, Mihailo Marakovic; from paralysis to self-destruction, Carlos Franqui; dynamics of militarism in revolutionary Nicaragua, Humberto Belli; a dangerous civilization, Edward Kuznetsov; crocodiles cannot fly, Alexander Zinoviev. Part 2 Can communist states reform?: the paradigm of the boots, Miklos Haraszti; towards post-totalitarianism, Agnes Heller; socialist democracy - a question of survival, Franz Loeser; Castro's Cuba in the Gorbachev era, Carlos Alberto Montaner; a future without communism?, Ivan Svitak; reforms are possible, Doan Van Toai. Part 3 Unofficial movements: Poland - rebuilding social life, Jakub Karpinski; the emerging civil society, Zagorka Golubovic; Charter 77 and other independent movements, Jan Kavan; dissent in Yugoslavia, Aleksa Djilas; cultural resistance in Czechoslovakia, Jan Vladislav; the Romanian-Hungarian conflict, Geza Szocs. Part 4 Intellectuals and the communist state: cooperation and conflict, Paul Hollander; East bloc intellectuals, Antonin Liehm; a view from Bucharest, Mihai Botez; the Polish intellectual's anguish, Aleksander Smolar; cultural dilemmas in contemporary Bulgaria, Atanas Slavov; civilization vs anticivilization - to graduate or not, Dorin Tudoran; bitter love - Chinese intellectuals and the state, Judith Shapiro; dialectics of disenchantment, Vladimir Tismaneanu.

A collection of essays analyzing the future of communism in the light of contemporary reforms. A number of critical intellectuals who have personally experienced the communist system, present a number of analyses ranging from the optimistic to the foreboding.