Comments on "The Worst of Both Worlds: Poverty and Politics in the Balkans".Valerie J. Brown's article (1) delivers further evidence that the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. is very far from Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe. . The Balkans, as it is taught even in elementary schools in Europe, is a well-defined geographic area, including Romania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Republics, Albania, and Greece. Its northern boundary is the Carpathian Mountains Carpathian Mountains Mountain system, eastern Europe. It extends along the Slovakia-Poland border and southward through Ukraine and eastern Romania about 900 mi (1,450 km). Its highest peak, Gerlachovka (in Slovakia), rises 8,711 ft (2,655 m). . Sometimes Turkey is also included because of its close political connections to the region. From historical aspects, the Balkans were traditionally the range of influence of the great powers, such as the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austro-Hungarian Monarchy or Dual Monarchy, the Hapsburg empire from 1867 until its fall in 1918. The Nature of Austria-Hungary The reorganization of Austria and Hungary was made possible by the Ausgleich , Russia, Italy, and the Ottoman and British Empires. The luxury of the insufficient knowledge on the geographic, ethnic, and cultural facts by the Western powers has caused irreparable damage and sorrow for the nations of this region up to now. The recent conditions of the Balkan countries are determined by these historic, al and geographic factors On a historical scale, the 40-year communist era was only a flash for the involved countries. Therefore, the arbitrary use of the term "Balkans" is not acceptable in an analysis of the roots of recent environmental and public health problems. Brown (1) wanted to evaluate the different consequences of communism, but obviously had difficulty selecting the target countries. Countries were also indicated as CEE cee n. The letter c. (Central and Eastern European) states many times, which is confusing. We wish that Brown had compared the special problems of the former Eastern bloc During the Cold War, the term Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and its allies in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and—until the early 1960s—Albania). regions [the Balkans and the Visegrad countries (Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. , Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the former Soviet republics)]. It would have been a very interesting and encouraging paper. Thus we request that another article be written to provide a thorough analysis of the health situation of the Balkan countries, perhaps by a local expert. REFERENCES AND NOTES (1.) Brown VJ. Focus: The worst of both worlds: poverty and politics in the Balkans. Environ Health Perspect 107:A606-613 (1999). Csaba Varga Istvan Ember Department of Preventive Medicine, University of P&s Pes, Hungary |
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