This volume is indispensible for scholars and practioners interested in Romania because of the breadth of issues addressed. King and Sum have done a masterful job of bringing together some of the best scholarship on Romania as the country looks to the future while attempting to confront its past.

Steven D. Roper, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Romania under Basescu brings together many of the most active scholars from Romania, Europe, and North America. The authors examine institutions, politics, and policy formation at a key point in Romania's post-communist development. King and Sum's collection provides a welcome update on Romanian politics and policy for anyone who maintains an interest in the country or in the broader topic of democratic transitions.

William Crowther, University of North Carolina Greensboro

This is a timely profile of the country as it emerges from post-communist isolation to try and play an effective role in the EU, the world's most important regional entity. A series of well-researched chapters examine change and resistance to it in arrange of policy dimensions. The authors are reputable scholars of the country and their insight is reflected in a set of perceptive analytical essays. The book shows that political partisanship, corruption, and defects in both the public administration and the economy greatly hamper progress, but also that grounds do exist for cautious optimism about Romania.

Tom Gallagher, University of Bradford, Great Britain

This volume is an academic attempt to evaluate various aspects of Romanian politics between the end of 2004 and the end of 2009, coinciding with Traian Basescu’s first presidential term. It will be of interest for scholars of Romanian studies in particular, but also for researchers of post-communist societies in general.

Europe-Asia Studies