New Books In National Security

How does a political regime function? What contributes to a regime’s longevity and subversion? Laszlo Borhi’s Dealing with Dictators: The United States, Hungary, and East Central Europe 1942-1989(Indiana University Press, 2016) invites readers to consider a complex nature of regime. The focus of Dealing with Dictators is Hungary, which during and after the Second World War is presented as “a weak client state”, borrowing Laszlo Borhi’s description. Through a meticulous research Laszlo Borhi illustrates how Hungary gradually develops into an independent state. This process, however, is not only gradual but conflicting and complicated as well. In Dealing with Dictators, Hungary’s major political counterparts are the Unites States, on the one hand, and the Soviet Union, on the other. This combination seems to locate Hungary in an unfavorable situation for the development of the country’s domestic and international policies. However, as Laszlo Borhi’s research demonstrates, a “weak state,” under certain condition